C. T. Onions, A Shakespeare Glossary

1. to endure, bear Cor. III. ii. 80 “the ripest mulberry That will not the handling,” Tim. I. ii. 161, Ham. V. i. 181 “many pocky corses . . . that will scarce the laying in.”

2. in various uses where ‘have’ or ‘keep’ is now the idiomatic verb Tp. II. i. 66 “our garments . . . . . . their freshness,” MND. I. i. 232 “Things base and vile, h-ing no quantity,” All'sW. V. ii. 3 “when I have held familiarity with fresher clothes,” John I. i. 223 “That h-s in chase mine honour up and down,” 1H4 II. iv. 437 “how he h-s his countenance,” H8 I. iii. 8 “when they hold 'em” (viz. fits of the face), Ham. I. v. 96 “while memory h-s a seat In this distracted globe,” Lr. II. iv. 245 “Hold amity” ; refl.= keep or be (so-and-so) Gent. IV. i. 32, “I . . . held me glad,” Err. III. ii. 69, R3 I. iii. 157, Mac. III. ii. 54 “hold thee still,” Sonn. lxxxv. 1.

3. to keep (one's word) Wiv. V. v. 271 [258].

4. to restrain, keep back, keep waiting, detain (freq.) Gent. I. iii. 2 “sad talk was that Wherewith my brother held you,” Ado. I. i. 214 [206], Tw.N. III. iv. 313, John III. iv. 18 “H-ing the eternal spirit . . . In the vile prison,” Cæs. I. ii. 83 “ me here so long,” II. i. 201 “ him from the Capitol” ; R3 IV. i. 81 “hath held mine eyes from rest,” Mac. III. vi. 25 “From whom this tyrant h-s the due of birth” ; phr. “hold” one's “hand” Lr. III. vii. 72, “hold” one's “tongue” Sonn. cii. 13.

5. to entertain (a feeling, thought) Gent. III. ii. 17 “the good conceit I of thee,” John. III. iv. 90 “You too heinous a respect of grief,” Ham. I. ii. 18 “Holding a weak supposal of our worth.”

6. to esteem at a certain value, regard in a particular way Ado III. ii. 101 “he h-s you well,” All'sW. IV. iii. 345 “men very nobly held,” Tw.N. II. iv. 86, III. iv. 255, 3H6 II. ii. 109 “I thee reverently,” Rom. III. iv. 25, Ham. IV. iii. 61 “if my love thou h-'st at aught.”

7. to offer as a wager Mer.V. III. iv. 62, Shr. III. ii. 86 “I hold you a penny.”

8. imper. = Here! take it! Gent. IV. iv. 134, Wiv. I. iii. 86 “, sirrah, bear you these letters,” I. iv. 162, R3 III. ii. 105 “hold, spend thou that” (Qq; Ff “there, drink that for me”), Cæs. I. iii. 117 “Hold, my hand,” Mac. II. i. 4; also “hold thee, hold you” Shr. IV. iv. 17, H5 V. i. 61, Cæs. V. iii. 85.

9. to remain fast or unbroken, not to break or give way Shr. II. i. 147, Wint. IV. ii. [iii.] 36 “If the springe , the cock's mine,” John V. vii. 56, Ham. I. v. 93 “Hold, hold, my heart!,” Cym. I. vi. 69 “Can my sides hold?.”

10. =hold one's hand (freq.) Mac. V. vii. 63. [viii. 34]; hence, to refrain AYL. V. i. 14, H8 Epil. 14.

11. to maintain one's position, ‘hold out’ Ant. III. xi. [xiii.] 170 “Our force by land Hath nobly held.”

12. to continue; also, to continue in one state of mind, be steadfast Wiv. V. i. 2 “I'll ,” Meas. III. i. 174, Wint. IV. iii. [iv.] 36 “Your resolution cannot ,” Tim. II. i. 4, Cæs. I. ii. 296 “if . . . your mind ,” Ham. V. ii. 206; phr. “ friends” Ado I. i. 93.

13. to be valid or true, ‘hold good’ Wiv. I. iii. 92, LLL. IV. ii. 42 “The allusion holds in the exchange,” All'sW. IV. v. 99, H8 II. i. 149; also with an adj. 1H4 II. i. 59 “It h-s current,” Tim. V. i. 4 “hold for true,” Lr. IV. vii. 85 “H-s it true, sir, that . . .?.”

14. to take place R2 V. ii. 52^* “hold those justs and triumphs?.”