The verb hold is very versatile, which can mean “to take”, “to keep”, “to bear”, “to last”, “to possess”, “to prevail”, and many other things. It is no wonder that it is used to form many phrasal verbs , such as Hold Up , Hold On , Hold Back and Hold Against .
Today we will see about phrasal verb hold down . It can have at least five different meanings: 1) “hold”; 2) “prevent”; 3) “keep pressed”; 4) “control” and 5) “keep the job” ( hold down a job ).
How about we talk in more detail about these five meanings? Just remembering that the verb hold is irregular and its past is held . Come on:
1 – The first sense of hold down is to literally “hold” someone or something, preventing them from moving:
Four people held him down .
Four people held him .
He was struggling so much it took three officers to hold him down .
He was struggling so hard that it took three officers to hold him .
We had to hold the tent down with rocks to stop it blowing away.
We had to hold the tent with stones to prevent it from flying.
It took three strong men to hold him down .
It took three strong men to hold it .
2 – The second sense of hold down is “to prevent the increase”. This sense is well used in relation to numbers, such as prices, taxes or inflation:
They made a deal to hold down prices.
They made a deal to prevent price increases .
Despite this, in most areas we are continuing to hold our rates down .
Despite this, in most areas we continue to prevent rate hikes .
The productivity boost should hold down unit labor costs, which means fatter margins.
The boost in productivity should prevent the increase in unit labor costs, which means thicker margins.
The change has helped hold down inflation levels even as it promotes global growth.
The change helped to prevent rising levels of inflation even as it promotes global growth.
3 – Another sense of hold down is to “keep it pressed”:
To jump, hold down and then release the spacebar.
To jump, hold down and then release the space bar.
To resize them so they are uniform, click on one, hold down the Shift key and click on the second button.
To resize them so that they are uniform, click on one, hold down the Shift button and click on the second button.
Try sitting at a piano, and hold down the damper pedal. It’s difficult!
Try to sit at the piano and hold down the damper pedal. It’s difficult!
While connected to the Internet, you hold down the Alt key when clicking on a word in any Windows program.
While connected to the internet, you hold down the Alt button when clicking on a word in any Windows program.
In the edit mode, click on the scene you want to move, hold down the mouse button and drag it to the correct place in the Storyboard list.
In edit mode, click on the scene you want to move, hold down the mouse button and drag it to the correct location in the script list.
4 – The fourth sense of hold down is to “control” someone, preventing the person from exercising their freedom or reaching their potential:
The regime had been holding down the people for years.
The regime had controlled the people for years.
She proved that being a woman wouldn’t hold her down .
She proved that being a woman would not control her .
You can’t hold a great athlete down .
You cannot control a great athlete .
The people were held down for centuries by their conquerors.
People were controlled for centuries by their conquerors.
5 – The last sense of our phrasal verb today is related to work. The expression hold down a job means “to keep a job”:
He’s never been able to hold down a steady job .
He never managed to keep a stable job .
She’s holding down two jobs .
She is holding two jobs .
Half of them have never held down a proper job .
Half of them have never kept a decent job .
He’s never held down a job for longer than a few weeks.
He never kept a job for more than a few weeks.
Did you see how the same phrasal verb can mean several different things? In order not to forget everything you learned about hold down , select a few phrases from this article and add them to your Anki . Also take the time to read about the expressions Hold My Beer , Hold a Grudge and Hold Your Horses .
