as in limited
to set bounds or an upper limit for
efforts to hold down taxes keep running up against the legislature's ingrained unwillingness to cut spending
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Recent Examples of held down
While Yamamoto held down the fort, the Dodgers batters did the rest of the work.
—
Ben Morse, CNN Money, 15 Oct. 2025
Last year, a Yankees fan pried the ball out of the glove of Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts, and another held down his wrist in the first inning of Game 4 of the World Series.
—Brendan Kuty, New York Times, 8 Oct. 2025
Renee Rosnes, a founding member of the SFJAZZ Collective and prolific bandleader and composer in her own right, has held down the Foursight piano chair since 2011.
—Andrew Gilbert, Mercury News, 17 Sep. 2025
More Kathryn Riley/Getty Images While free agent acquisition Carlton Davis III held down the right side of the secondary in pass coverage, the left was manned by an ensemble of Alex Austin, Marcus Jones and Charles Woods filling in for Gonzalez, with mixed results at best.
—Jon Vankin, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 Sep. 2025
Solarization is the process of killing a lawn or an expanse of weeds by soaking it with a hose or a sprinkler system and then covering it with clear plastic, held down by rocks or bricks.
—Joshua Siskin, Oc Register, 11 Sep. 2025
Students described being held down and having teammates rub their genitals on their faces, being groped in locker rooms, and in some cases penetrated with a broomstick.
—Hannah Dreyfus, AZCentral.com, 31 Aug. 2025
My mother held down three jobs at one time to support us.
—Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 18 Aug. 2025
Bob Sirott and John Records Landecker, who held down afternoon and evening shifts respectively for much of the 1970s on WLS, are reuniting on the air at WGN for a three-hour tour of anecdotes, DJ interviews, vintage jingles and listener calls.
—Robert Channick, Chicago Tribune, 15 Aug. 2025
Ben Morse, CNN Money, 15 Oct. 2025
Last year, a Yankees fan pried the ball out of the glove of Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts, and another held down his wrist in the first inning of Game 4 of the World Series.
—Brendan Kuty, New York Times, 8 Oct. 2025
Renee Rosnes, a founding member of the SFJAZZ Collective and prolific bandleader and composer in her own right, has held down the Foursight piano chair since 2011.
—Andrew Gilbert, Mercury News, 17 Sep. 2025
More Kathryn Riley/Getty Images While free agent acquisition Carlton Davis III held down the right side of the secondary in pass coverage, the left was manned by an ensemble of Alex Austin, Marcus Jones and Charles Woods filling in for Gonzalez, with mixed results at best.
—Jon Vankin, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 Sep. 2025
Solarization is the process of killing a lawn or an expanse of weeds by soaking it with a hose or a sprinkler system and then covering it with clear plastic, held down by rocks or bricks.
—Joshua Siskin, Oc Register, 11 Sep. 2025
Students described being held down and having teammates rub their genitals on their faces, being groped in locker rooms, and in some cases penetrated with a broomstick.
—Hannah Dreyfus, AZCentral.com, 31 Aug. 2025
My mother held down three jobs at one time to support us.
—Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 18 Aug. 2025
Bob Sirott and John Records Landecker, who held down afternoon and evening shifts respectively for much of the 1970s on WLS, are reuniting on the air at WGN for a three-hour tour of anecdotes, DJ interviews, vintage jingles and listener calls.
—Robert Channick, Chicago Tribune, 15 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for held down
Verb
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The more sports have grown over the years, the more access has been limited, to the point where, around the turn of the century, reporters had to start fighting to hold on to the ability to talk to a team’s star player after games.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
21 Oct. 2025
-
For the Middle District of Tennessee, certain proceedings will be limited, but most cases will continue as usual.—
Amber Roberson,
Nashville Tennessean,
21 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Of the 40 units, 39 will be deed-restricted for extremely low- and low-income households — 29 for those earning at or below 50% of area median income (AMI) and 10 for those at or below 30% of AMI.—
Ryan Macasero,
Mercury News,
18 Oct. 2025
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On Tuesday, Meta announced that teen accounts on Instagram will be restricted to seeing PG-13 content by default and won’t be able to change their settings without a parent’s permission.—
Dave Smith,
Fortune,
17 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Held down.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/held%20down. Accessed 26 Oct. 2025.
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