The Phrasal Verb 'Hold Down' Explained
- Phrasal Verbs Explained
- Oct 24
- 11 min read
An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'hold down' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context
Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them like a native.
This article is all about the phrasal verb 'hold down' and in it I will explain 5 different ways that you can use it in English. We will start by looking at the literal and more common uses, before moving on to some rarer ones at a more advanced level. For each application, I will also provide you with a lot of example sentences in context to show you how it can be used and therefore help you to know when you can use it when speaking English. So, without further ado, let's make a start....
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THE BASICS
HOLD DOWN: KEY INFORMATION
Usage | Medium |
Number of meanings | 5 |
Past tense forms | Held down / Held down |
Separable? | Yes |
As you know, we will be looking at the phrasal verb 'hold down' in this article, but how much do you know about the individual words 'hold' and 'down'? I assume the answer to that question is quite a lot as these are common words in English but let's just quickly review them before we continue with the phrasal verb meanings....
Like most of the commonest verbs in English, 'to hold' is irregular and has several different meanings. The most frequently used of these is 'to retain something in your hand or in your possession for a period of time'. In addition to this, it can also mean 'to support something' and 'to keep something in place, so that it cannot move or leave' and this link with the verb 'to keep' is one that we will see again later as we look at the meanings of 'hold down'.
I was holding a glass of water in my hand.
Laura held the safety rail tightly as she walked up the stairs.
Don't worry, you won't fall; I will hold you.
The suspected thief was held in a police cell overnight.
You will undoubtedly be familiar with the prepositional particle 'down' and will therefore know already that it's main meaning is to talk about a downward movement or decrease of some sort. This idea is also one that you will find in some 'down' phrasal verbs (fall down, get down). In addition to this, when 'down' appears in a phrasal verb it can be to add other ideas such as dismantling or collapsing (tear down), recording (write down) or stopping (shut down), among others.
Now that we have covered the basics, let's proceed to see the different meanings of the phrasal verb 'hold down'.....
MEANING 1: To forcefully stop someone or something from moving
CEFR Language Level | B1 - Intermediate |
Usage | Medium |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To restrain, to pin down, to depress |
Separable? | Yes |
We will start the different meanings of the phrasal verb 'hold down' with the one that is a literal meaning of the two words combined and that is 'to forcefully stop someone or something from moving'.
Nouns commonly used with this application....
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I would say that we can divide this first application into two distinct categories: living things (people and animals) and objects.
Let's first consider the idea of holding a person or an animal down. This is where we need to use force to stop them from moving from the low position that they are in.
Normally, this is when the individual is on a horizontal surface such as the ground or an operating table and we need them to stay where they are and not get up and move. In order to do this, we must physically hold them in position by continually pushing them down onto the surface. Of course, don't forget that whoever is being held down will not want to be and is therefore likely to put up some resistance to this.
Typical example situations of where you might come across this is when the police have arrested a criminal and need to hold them down on the ground or when an animal is at the vets and tries to escape and hide (as pet owners will know they almost always do).
The nurse had to hold the patient down while the doctor gave the injection.
Several people tried to hold the dog down, so the vet could examine it.
We had to hold her down to stop her from thrashing during the seizure.
Two guards managed to hold down the suspect until the police arrived.
He was so strong; it took three of us to hold him down!
Now, let's think about holding down non-living or inanimate objects. The idea here is essentially the same as with living things, i.e. that we are applying pressure to an object to stop it moving in an upwards or sideways direction (or both). Of course, as we are dealing with objects and not living beings, there is no desire to move, however there is still resistance from forces trying to move the object e.g. the wind.
Typical scenarios of this would be holding down a button for a period of time to reset a device and using a heavy weight to hold down papers or documents that may get moved by the wind or a draught.
Solomon had to use his hands to hold down the lid as the wind kept trying to lift it.
Sandra put a rock on the stack of papers to hold them down and stop them from being blown away.
Three firefighters had to hold down the hose when the water pressure surged.
Hold down the reset button for 5 seconds until the display screen flashes.
MEANING 2: To keep the level of something low
CEFR Language Level | B2 - Upper intermediate |
Usage | Medium |
Where is it used? | Everywhere with some American English sub-usage |
Potential synonyms | To keep down, to limit |
Separable? | Yes |
Our second meaning of 'hold down' is another one that could be considered as a literal meaning of the two words and that is 'to keep the level of something low'.
Nouns commonly used with this application....
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One way that the word 'down' can be used is as a synonym of the adjective 'low', particularly when talking about things that are measured numerically in levels. This is important for understanding the second application of 'hold down', which is essentially just a continuation of the previous one. However, instead of talking about physically holding something in place, so that it does not move, we are now thinking about levels of things that can be measured with numbers that we do not want to increase or rise.
Most frequently, this application is heard in reference to prices and costs, which are things that none of us want to increase. Additionally, this may be used to talk about things like employee turnover in a business, economic inflation and levels of pollution, all of which can be me measured in numbers. As you can see, these are often things whose levels naturally go up and dow and which sometimes require some intervention in order to keep the levels low and it is this intervention that we call 'holding down'.
If you have read my post about the phrasal verb 'keep down' (link here), you might recognise that this is in fact a synonym of this phrasal verb, however you should not that 'hold down' is not used as commonly.
The government is trying to hold inflation down by cutting interest rates.
We need to hold down our costs if we want the project to stay within budget.
The team managed to hold down prices despite rising production expenses.
Good management helped the company to hold down staff turnover.
Eating healthily and exercising can help you hold your cholesterol levels down.
The store is offering discounts to hold the number of unsold items in stock down.
New technology is helping farmers to hold down water usage during dry seasons.
In addition, there is also a usage of this application in American English, which means to limit something and is often used in reference to noise and sound. The idea here is that if you hold the noise down, it stays at an acceptable or quiet level and does not become too loud. Note that this would not be used in British English and 'keep down' would be used as the alternative here.
We need to hold down the noise so we don’t wake the baby.
Could you hold it down, please? I’m trying to concentrate.
MEANING 3: To keep a job or relationship
CEFR Language Level | B2 - Upper intermediate |
Usage | Medium |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To keep, to retain, to hang onto |
Separable? | Yes |
For many of us, having a good job that we enjoy or a successful relationship are two of the most important objectives in our lives and this third application of 'hold down' can be used to talk about both of these things as it means 'to keep a job or relationship'.
Nouns commonly used with this application....
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Let's first consider the idea of holding down a job. If you are able to hold down a job, it means that you can find a job and then keep it for a long time, with the idea being that you do not get fired or quit after a short period of time. Equally, it can be used in the negative sense for people who cannot hold down a job, meaning that they are unable to find permanent work and always seem to be looking for one.
Bill has finally managing to hold down a steady job after years of unemployment.
Despite his health issues, Phillip was able to hold down a full-time position.
It's hard to hold down a job and study at the same time.
Ele’s been holding down that job for over ten years now.
Even while raising three kids, Gemma managed to hold down two part-time jobs.
Likewise, with relationships if you are able to find a romantic partner with whom you enter into a long-lasting relationship, you can say that you "held down a relationship". Again, when talking about those people who are unlucky in the romance department, we can use the negative and say that he or she cannot hold down a relationship. Less commonly, you may hear this being used with other words for relationships like 'marriage'.
Olivia can’t seem to hold down a relationship for more than a few months.
Holding down a relationship when you're suffering from mental health problems can be extremely challenging.
If you can hold down a job, you can hold down a marriage.
Lastly, for both jobs and relationships, you should note that we typically use this when there is something remarkable or surprising about the fact that someone can or cannot hold one down. This may be that the person has not had much luck finding work or a partner in the past or it may be that they are extremely good at doing so.
MEANING 4: To repress someone
CEFR Language Level | C1 - Advanced |
Usage | Rare |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To keep down, to suppress, to limit, to restrict, to repress, to oppress |
Separable? | Yes |
We are now on to the final two meanings of 'hold down', which are both rarer synonyms of the phrasal verb 'keep down'. The first of these is 'to repress someone'.
Firstly, if you are not sure about the meaning of the verb 'to repress', it means to keep something under control and limit it in some way. When we apply this to people, it simply means to control them and restrict their freedom, which is sadly something that has happened in all parts of the world since human societies have existed.
When people are held down in this way, it is almost always directly or indirectly caused by a government or the rulers of a regime or country who want to maximise their own power by restricting everybody else's. You may also, much more rarely, find this application being used to talk about companies and businesses, which also have their own leadership and power hierarchies and can hold certain employees down, stopping them from advancing in their careers within the organisation.
The regime used force and propaganda to hold people's opposition down.
For decades, discriminatory laws were used in the country to hold down minority communities.
The company’s unfair policies were put in place to hold down workers who spoke out for better conditions.
The activists accused the government of trying to hold the voices of protestors down.
Education restrictions were a way of holding down certain groups and limit their opportunities within society
Corrupt leaders used fear tactics to hold down anyone who questioned their authority.
Heavy taxes were imposed on the poorer classes to hold them down and keep them dependent.
MEANING 5: To eat something and not vomit afterwards
CEFR Language Level | C1 - Advanced |
Usage | Rare |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To keep down |
Separable? | Yes |
Lastly, we come to the fifth application of the phrasal verb 'hold down' that I will explain for you in this post and as I mentioned previously, this is another rarer usage and it means 'to eat something and not vomit'.
Nouns & pronouns commonly used with this application....
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This might sound a bit of a strange definition and you may be wondering why we need it as the vast majority of times that people eat, they do not vomit. If that were the case, then we would probably not survive for very long.
Of course, there are times when we become ill, in particular with food poisoning or viruses and we are not able to eat or drink anything without vomiting afterwards and it is on these rare occasions that we use this application of 'hold down'. When these unfortunate illnesses occur, we will use 'hold down' to talk about our ability to keep food or drink in our stomachs after we consume it. It is literally the idea of holding it in a lower position since the stomach is below the mouth.
As I also mentioned earlier in the post, the synonym phrasal verb 'keep down' is probably used more commonly than 'hold down' here.
Lois was so sick that she couldn’t even hold a sip of water down.
After the surgery, Mike struggled to hold down any solid food.
I was so hungover that I barely managed to hold down breakfast before heading to work.
The medication helped Edwards hold down his meals for the first time in days.
Try to hold it down for a few hours so that your stomach can settle.
Barry hasn’t been able to hold down anything since last night.
They gave Penelope some ginger tea to help her hold her food down during the flight.
We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new about the phrasal verb 'hold down'. If you enjoyed this post, please go ahead and check out some of my other posts.
Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'hold down'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!!
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THE END
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