hold

A process by which a bank restricts funds deposited by checks. Usually but not always used to restrict the proceeds of checks drawn on other banks until the funds have been transferred by the drawor's bank to an account that the depositor's bank maintains with the Federal Reserve. American Banker Glossary

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To maintain ownership of a security over a long period of time. "Hold" is also a recommendation of an analyst who is not positive enough on a stock to recommend a buy, but not negative enough on the stock to recommend a sell. Bloomberg Financial Dictionary

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▪ I. hold hold ¹ [həʊld ǁ hoʊld] verb held _PTandPP [held]

1. [transitive] FINANCE if you hold an investment, you own it:

• The group holds billions of dollars of junk bonds.

2. [transitive] FINANCE to keep an investment, rather than sell it:

• I don't sell anything. I buy stocks to hold.

3. hold an interest/​position/​stake in something FINANCE to own part of company, asset etc:

• The company also holds a 25 percent interest in a German refinery.

4. hold a patent LAW to own a patent (= the right to profits from a product based on a new idea ) :

• Inventor Charles Fritz holds the patent to the Tripledge windshield wiper.

5. [transitive] to have a meeting:

• This year's conference will be held in Brighton.

6. [transitive] to keep supplies in a particular place:

• The steel company holds stocks at the terminals in order to make just-in-time deliveries to local customers.

7. [transitive] FINANCE to keep a price or other amount at a particular level:

• The bank is holding interest rates at 4%.

8. [intransitive] FINANCE to remain at the same level:

• Since then, the pound has held steady against the dollar.

9. hold ( its) value COMMERCE if something holds value or holds its value, it does not lose its value, or it loses value more slowly than you might expect:

• The works of Magritte and Miro continue to hold their value at auctions despite the art-market slump.

• In an increasingly disposable society, luxury cars are one of the few items that hold value.

10. hold office if a political party holds office, it governs a country

11. hold office to have an important job in the government or in a company:

• The original directors of the company would hold office only for the first year of privatization.

12. hold a job/​position/​post etc formal JOBS to have a particular job:

• She has held the position of Chief Financial Officer for five years.

hold something → down phrasal verb [transitive]

1. to prevent something such as prices from rising:

• To fight inflation, the government held down gasoline prices.

• Companies are trying to hold down costs and improve efficiency.

2. hold down a job informal to succeed in keeping a job:

• Mr Mills had to hold down a full-time job while attending night school.

hold out for something phrasal verb [transitive]

if you are offered something and hold out for more, you refuse to accept the offer, hoping to get a better one:

• Anybody holding out for a better deal is being unreasonable, considering the economic environment we're in now.

hold up phrasal verb [intransitive] FINANCE

if a price, value etc holds up, it stays at or near the same level, especially when it was expected to fall:

• Copper prices held up surprisingly well during the recession.

  [m0] ▪ II. hold hold ² noun [countable]

1. TRANSPORT the part of a ship or plane where goods are stored for transport:

• The Mega Borg had 38 million gallons of crude in its hold.

2. COMMERCE if a company has a hold on a market or a large part of a market, it makes it difficult for others to compete:

hold on

• They thought they had a pretty good hold on the computer market.

3. FINANCE if someone says that an investment is a hold, they mean that people who have it should keep it and not sell it, but that they should not buy any more of it:

• He rates the stock a hold, but figures it `might go down before it goes up.'

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Ⅰ.

hold UK US /həʊld/ verb (held, held)

► [T] to have something, especially a position or money, or to control something: hold power/control »

The CEO holds power only as long as the directors approve of his methods.

hold a stake/an interest/shares »

The bank holds an interest in the real estate company.

hold a position/job/post »

Before taking his present post, he held the position of chief financial regulator.

hold a mortgage/loan »

She holds the mortgage, so she has the right to foreclose on the property.

hold the rights to sth »

Who holds the rights to screen these games?

hold a patent »

The world's largest biotech firm holds patents on the DNA sequences of thousands of varieties of grain.

► [T] to keep something, especially when it might be needed in the future: »

Accountants recommend holding records for more than seven years.

»

Ten seats are being held for the chief executives.

hold stocks/supplies »

We hold large stocks of all these items, and are generally able to guarantee next-day delivery.

► [T] FINANCE to keep money or an investment, and not sell it: »

We'll hold the bonds until the resale market improves.

»

For these stocks, the recommendation is: Hold!

→ See also BUY-AND-HOLD(Cf. ↑buy-and-hold)

► [T] to contain or be able to contain a number of people or things: »

Each container can hold 500 pounds of cargo.

»

The auditorium is designed to hold 1,000 people.

► [T] MEETINGS to make an event, especially a meeting, happen: »

hold a meeting/conference/conference call

»

The software development conference is scheduled to be held in San Francisco in April.

► [I or T] FINANCE to stay, or make something stay, at the same level as before: hold a rate/price/tax »

The Federal Reserve held interest rates at 3%.

»

The Chancellor is expected to hold capital gains tax at its present rate.

»

The markets held steady, despite the report of higher inflation.

► [T] LAW to make a judgment in a court of law: »

A superior court judge held that the plaintiff had no legal claim to royalties.

► [I or T] COMMUNICATIONS to wait when you are phoning until you can talk to the person that you want to speak to: »

He'll answering another call right now. Can you hold?

»

Please hold the line. I'll try to connect you.

● hold all the cards — Cf. hold all the cards

● hold the floor — Cf. hold the floor

● hold down the fort — Cf. hold down the fort

● hold your ground — Cf. hold your ground

● hold sb's hand — Cf. hold sb's hand

● hold office — Cf. hold office

● hold your own — Cf. hold your own

● hold the purse strings — Cf. hold the purse strings

● hold the reins — Cf. hold the reins

● hold sth in reserve — Cf. hold sth in reserve

● hold sway — Cf. hold sway

● hold title — Cf. hold title

● hold (its) value — Cf. hold value

Ⅱ.

hold UK US /həʊld/ noun

► [S] power or control over someone or something: a hold over sb/sth »

With the new law, Congress strengthened its hold over mortgage rates.

a hold on sth »

They're keeping their strong hold on the smartphone market.

»

a strong/tight hold

»

keep/tighten/lose your hold

► [C or U] STOCK MARKET a suggestion that someone should not sell the shares that they own in a company, but that they should not buy any new shares: »

Analysts changed ""buys"" to ""holds"" after the annual report appeared.

»

We have recently downgraded our recommendation for the Forest Group to ""Hold"".

→ See also HOLD RATING(Cf. ↑hold rating)

► [C] BANKING a delay by a bank to prevent money from being taken from an account: »

It took three days for the hold on the payment to be cleared.

► [C] TRANSPORT the place on a ship or aircraft where goods are carried: »

Inspectors examined the hold to look for stowaways.

● on hold — Cf. on hold

● take hold — Cf. take hold