hold
(=clasp, grasp) tenir
She held the baby. Elle tenait le bébé.
→ Hold the baby while I load the car.
→ I held the box tight to my chest.
Can you hold this for a minute? Tu peux me tenir ça une minute?
(=keep, maintain)
Hold your hands in front of your face. Levez vos mains devant vos yeux.
to hold one's back straight se tenir droit
to hold sth shut maintenir qch fermé (e)
→ the wooden wedge which held the heavy door shut
to hold sth open maintenir qch ouvert (e)
→ the wooden wedge which held the heavy door open
to hold the door open for sb
[person] tenir la porte à qn
→ I held the door open for her
to hold one's head high
(=refuse to be ashamed) garder la tête haute
→ in public she has held her head high and stayed diplomatically silent
→ a national team that could hold its head high in the competition
to hold one's own
[person] bien se défendre
→ he held his own in the cut and thrust of the debate
→ he has shown he is more than capable of holding his own in the Premiership
to hold one's own against sb
[person] tenir tête à qn
→ She can hold her own against almost any player.
For a time they held their own against the imperial troops. Pendant un temps, ils tinrent tête aux troupes impériales.
to hold one's breath retenir sa respiration
→ I held my breath and sank under the water.
don't hold your breath! ça n'arrivera peut-être pas de sitôt !
→ "Next thing you know, I'll be dancing at your wedding," he cried. "Don't hold your breath," my father replied.
to hold sb's interest maintenir l'intérêt de qn
→ All these tales of giants and trolls knocking each other's heads off succeeded in holding the children's interest.
It's hard to hold their interest. Il est difficile de maintenir leur intérêt.
→ Students don't seem to have the attention span they used to. It's hard to hold their interest.
to hold sb's attention maintenir l'attention de qn en éveil
It's done in a way that will hold children's attention. C'est fait de manière à maintenir en éveil l'attention des enfants.
Stein is an impressive public speaker capable of holding the attention of large audiences for hours at a stretch. Stein est un orateur impressionnant, capable de maintenir en éveil l'attention de son auditoire pendant des heures de rang.
(=contain) contenir
This bottle holds one litre. Cette bouteille contient un litre.
The stadium can hold 10 000 people. Le stade peut contenir 10 000 personnes.
It holds no interest for me. Cela ne présente aucun intérêt pour moi.
→ The lead story held little interest for me.
(=cause to take place)
[+meeting] tenir
[+election, referendum] tenir
→ the Government will hold a referendum on the euro
[+inquiry, investigation] ouvrir
→ The government said it would hold an investigation.
to hold a meeting tenir une réunion
to hold talks with sb s'entretenir avec qn
→ the FAI said it had already held talks with officials from the Department of Sport
He has recently held talks with his advisers. Il s'est récemment entretenu avec ses conseillers.
(=detain)
[+person] détenir
He was held for two days by the police. La police l'a détenu pendant deux jours.
I was held overnight in a cell. J'ai passé la nuit dans une cellule.
to hold sb prisoner garder qn prisonnier
to hold sb captive garder qn en captivité
to hold sb hostage garder qn en otage
(=believe) maintenir, considérer
to hold that ... être d'opinion que ...
to hold the view that ... être d'opinion que ..., estimer que ...
I myself hold the view that ... Je suis moi-même d'opinion que ...
to hold sb responsible for sth tenir qn responsable de qch
→ The police aren't going to hold you responsible for not notifying them.
→ He will be held largely responsible for failings in his department.
to hold sb liable for sth engager la responsabilité de qn pour qch, tenir qn responsable de qch
The legislation will hold parents liable when their children commit crimes. La législation engagera la responsabilité des parents pour les délits commis par leurs enfants., La législation tiendra les parents responsables des délits commis par leurs enfants.
to be held liable for sth être tenu (e) responsable de qch
A business firm can be held liable for damages caused by employees. Une entreprise commerciale peut être tenue responsable des dommages causés par ses employés., La responsabilité d'une entreprise commerciale peut être engagée en cas de dommages causés par ses employés.
(=possess)
[+title, position] tenir
→ Bob Dole had twice held cabinet positions in US government.
[+licence] avoir, être titulaire de
He has held his position for exactly a year. Il a tenu ce poste pendant exactement un an., Il a été à ce poste pendant exactement un an.
He did not hold a firearms licence. Il n'avait pas de permis de port d'arme.
to hold shares in a company détenir des actions dans une société
→ Between them, the members of the Murphy family held 600,000 shares
to hold office occuper un poste, être en poste
He continues to hold the office of army Chief of Staff. Il est toujours en poste comme chef d'état-major de l'armée.
She has never held ministerial office. Elle n'a jamais eu de portefeuille ministériel.
to hold public office occuper un poste dans la fonction publique
Roman Catholics were forbidden from holding public office. Il était interdit aux catholiques d'occuper un poste dans la fonction publique.
(have the capacity to support)
to hold sb's weight supporter le poids de qn
(on telephone)
to hold the line ne pas quitter
Hold the line! Ne quittez pas!
(=wait)
hold it! attends!
(=withstand pressure)
[structure, glue, fastening] tenir
→ How long will the roof hold?
→ The glue held.
[luck]
Their luck held. La chance était toujours de leur côté.
→ If my luck continues to hold, I think I've got a fair chance.
(=be valid)
[argument] tenir
[offer] tenir
Your argument doesn't hold. Ton argument ne tient pas.
Will you tell her my offer still holds? Peux-tu lui dire que mon offre tient toujours ?
(=keep)
to hold still
[person] arrêter de bouger, se tenir tranquille
Can't you hold still for a second? Tu peux arrêter de bouger une seconde ?
to hold steady
[person] tenir bon
to hold tight (to stop o.s. from falling over)
se cramponner
(hold off from a particular course of action)
tenir bon, camper sur ses positions
Investors would be well advised to hold tight. Les investisseurs seraient bien avisés de camper sur leurs positions.
→ Investors would be well advised to hold tight - this share price roller-coaster has not yet run its course
(on telephone)
rester en ligne
The line's engaged: will you hold? C'est occupé : vous restez en ligne?
(=grip) prise f
He released his hold on the camera. Il relâcha sa prise sur l'appareil photo.
to grab hold of sth/sb
(=grasp) se saisir de qch/qn
→ I was woken up by someone grabbing hold of my sleeping bag.
to catch hold of sth/sb
(=grab) se saisir de qch/qn
A doctor and a nurse caught hold of his arms. Un médecin et une infirmière se saisirent de ses bras.
to take hold of sth/sb
(=grab) attraper qch/qn
Mother took hold of the barking dogs by their collars. Mère attrapa les chiens qui aboyaient par leur collier.
to take hold of sb
(=overwhelm)
[emotion, excitement] s'emparer de qn
She felt a strange excitement taking hold of her. Elle sentit une étrange excitation s'emparer d'elle.
to get hold of sth/sb
(=grab) se saisir de qch/qn
He got hold of my arm. Il se saisit de mon bras.
(=manage to find) mettre la main sur qch/qn
→ It is hard to get hold of guns in this country
→ I need to get hold of Bob
I couldn't get hold of it. Je n'ai pas réussi à mettre la main dessus.
(fig) emprise f
→ a hold that was impossible to break.
to have a hold over sb avoir une emprise sur qn
Because he once loved her, she still has a hold on him. Parce qu'il l'avait jadis aimée, elle avait toujours une emprise sur lui.
to put sth on hold mettre qch en attente
→ He put his retirement on hold to work 16 hours a day.
(on phone)
to put sb on hold mettre qn en attente
[+ship] cale f → They used to fish those waters and come back with full holds.
▲
hold against
vt sep
to hold sth against sb tenir rigueur de qch à qn
→ 'You're forgetting all the trouble he caused.' -- `He was only a boy. You're not going to hold that against him?
I don't hold it against him. Je ne lui en tiens pas rigueur.
→ He lost the case, but never held it against me.
▲
hold back
(=restrain)
[+person, crowd] retenir
to hold back one's tears retenir ses larmes
to hold back one's laughter s'efforcer de ne pas éclater de rire
(=hinder, inhibit)
[+person]
[situation, conditions] être un obstacle pour
[person] brider
[+recovery] retarder
→ Stagnation in home sales is holding back economic recovery
She wanted to be an actress but her dyslexia held her back. Elle voulait être actrice, mais sa dyslexie a été un obstacle pour elle.
She's very ambitious, so don't try to hold her back. Elle est très ambitieuse, n'essaie pas de la brider.
to hold sb back from doing sth retenir qn de faire qch
→ the lack of trust that holds us back from opening up fully to others
Sydney's pride held him back from relying on her too much. C'est son orgueil qui retenait Sydney de trop dépendre d'elle.
What's holding him back from making a final decision? Qu'est-ce qui le retient de prendre une décision sans appel ?
(=keep to o.s.)
[+secret] garder pour soi
[+information] garder pour soi
What helpful information do you believe I have held back? Quelle information utile crois-tu que j'ai gardée pour moi?
Are you holding something back? Tu me caches quelque chose ?
→ You seem to be holding something back
vi
(=hesitate before acting) temporiser
The administration had several reasons for holding back. L'administration avait ses raisons de temporiser.
to hold back from doing sth attendre avant de faire qch
→ I don't see why he would have held back from telling us.
Ministers held back from making the bad news public. Les ministres ont attendu avant de rendre publique la mauvaise nouvelle., Les ministres ont retardé la diffusion de la mauvaise nouvelle.
▲
hold down
vt sep
(physically)
[+person] maintenir à terre
→ It took three men to hold him down.
[+costs, prices, inflation] maintenir au plus bas, maintenir un bas niveau de
→ the pressure to increase efficiency and hold down costs
[+job]
(=have) occuper
(=keep) garder
→ He could never hold down a regular job.
▲
hold forth
vi pérorer
→ Jenkins was there, holding forth on his favourite subject.
▲
hold off
vt sep
[+challenger, competitor] maintenir à distance
[person]
They threatened military action but have held off until now. Ils ont menacé d'intervenir militairement mais n'ont rien fait jusqu'à maintenant.
to hold off doing sth, He has held off planting the seeds. Il a remis les plantations à plus tard.
[rain]
if the rain holds off s'il ne se met pas à pleuvoir
→ If the rain holds off, we'll go for a walk.
▲
hold on
vi
(to surface, cliff etc)
tenir bon
The rope was wet, but Nancy held on. La corde était mouillée mais Nancy tint bon.
(=wait) attendre
→ Hold on a moment, please.
Hold on, I'm coming! Attends-moi, j'arrive!
hold on! (on phone)
ne quittez pas!
▲
hold on to
vt fus
(=grip)
[+surface, rope, object] se cramponner à
He held on to the chair. Il se cramponnait à la chaise.
→ He had to hold on to the chair to steady himself.
(=keep) conserver, garder
→ Will you hold on to this for me for a couple of days?
▲
hold out
[+object] tendre
to hold one's hand out tendre la main
→ Sam held out his hand for the briefcase.
→ "I'm Nancy Drew," she said, holding out her hand.
vi
(=resist) résister, tenir bon
to hold out against résister devant, tenir bon devant
to hold out for sth tenir bon pour obtenir qch
I should have held out for better terms. J'aurais dû tenir bon pour obtenir de meilleures conditions.
▲
hold over
vt sep
[+event, meeting] ajourner, reporter
→ The meeting has been held over until tomorrow.
▲
hold up
vt sep
(=raise) lever
→ The Englishman held up the rifle.
to hold up one's hand lever la main
Pierre held up his hand. Pierre a levé la main.
(=support)
[+object, person] soutenir
These books hold the bed up. Le lit repose sur ces livres., Ces livres soutiennent le lit.
(=delay)
[+person] retenir
→ The traffic held me up on the way home.
[+traffic] ralentir
I was held up at the office. J'ai été retenu au bureau.
(=rob) braquer
to hold up a bank braquer une banque
to hold sb up at gunpoint tenir qn en respect (avec son arme)
He held me up at gunpoint. Il me tenait en respect avec son arme.
▲
hold with
vt fus
(=tolerate) apprécier
→ I don't hold with the way they do things nowadays.
I don't hold with this so-called modern art. Je n'apprécie pas ce soi-disant art moderne.
hold-up
n
(=robbery) hold-up m
→ Seven people were wounded in hold-ups.
(=delay) retard m (British, in traffic) embouteillage m
→ hold-ups on the M6 motorway