as in survived
to continue to operate or to meet one's needs
we hoped our supply of firewood would hold out until power was restored luckily, the old outboard motor held out till we made it to shore
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Recent Examples of held out
Kesselman ran into Joe (Concert Joe) Sarkis, a bearded seventy-two-year-old music-scene fixture, who held out a copy of High Times’ May, 1976, issue.
—
Mark Yarm, New Yorker, 2 Mar. 2026
Mayer has been held out of game action so far in order to give the second-year infielder time to ramp up more slowly after undergoing season-ending wrist surgery last summer.
—Mac Cerullo, Boston Herald, 27 Feb. 2026
On Wednesday night, the Canucks announced that defenseman Tyler Myers would be held out of Vancouver’s lineup at home against the Winnipeg Jets for roster management reasons, and team sources confirmed to The Athletic that the move is related to a trade.
—Chris Johnston, New York Times, 26 Feb. 2026
Prior to being held out of Saturday night’s victory over the visiting Memphis Grizzlies, Jovic had fallen out of the rotation, playing only three minutes of mop-up duty in Friday night’s road victory over the Atlanta Hawks.
—Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 24 Feb. 2026
Operation Mincemeat held out until the longest, with producers hoping to proceed with a Sunday night show that would have marked the final performance of the musical’s original British cast; eventually the performance was canceled, with the cast performing a livestream concert version instead.
—Greg Evans, Deadline, 23 Feb. 2026
The top pros were held out of the last two Winter Olympics, in 2018 over a dispute between the players and the IOC, and in 2022 because of COVID-19 interruptions in scheduling.
—Los Angeles Times, 20 Feb. 2026
He was held out the rest of the way, according to the NBC broadcast.
—CBS News, 20 Feb. 2026
Alysa Liu was hailed as an ice skating prodigy from the young age of 5 and held out a promising future.
—Lea Veloso, StyleCaster, 17 Feb. 2026
Mark Yarm, New Yorker, 2 Mar. 2026
Mayer has been held out of game action so far in order to give the second-year infielder time to ramp up more slowly after undergoing season-ending wrist surgery last summer.
—Mac Cerullo, Boston Herald, 27 Feb. 2026
On Wednesday night, the Canucks announced that defenseman Tyler Myers would be held out of Vancouver’s lineup at home against the Winnipeg Jets for roster management reasons, and team sources confirmed to The Athletic that the move is related to a trade.
—Chris Johnston, New York Times, 26 Feb. 2026
Prior to being held out of Saturday night’s victory over the visiting Memphis Grizzlies, Jovic had fallen out of the rotation, playing only three minutes of mop-up duty in Friday night’s road victory over the Atlanta Hawks.
—Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 24 Feb. 2026
Operation Mincemeat held out until the longest, with producers hoping to proceed with a Sunday night show that would have marked the final performance of the musical’s original British cast; eventually the performance was canceled, with the cast performing a livestream concert version instead.
—Greg Evans, Deadline, 23 Feb. 2026
The top pros were held out of the last two Winter Olympics, in 2018 over a dispute between the players and the IOC, and in 2022 because of COVID-19 interruptions in scheduling.
—Los Angeles Times, 20 Feb. 2026
He was held out the rest of the way, according to the NBC broadcast.
—CBS News, 20 Feb. 2026
Alysa Liu was hailed as an ice skating prodigy from the young age of 5 and held out a promising future.
—Lea Veloso, StyleCaster, 17 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for held out
Verb
-
All pilots involved in the crashes survived, according to multiple sources.—
Washington Examiner Staff,
The Washington Examiner,
2 Mar. 2026
-
Both crew members in each aircraft ejected safely and survived, authorities confirmed.—
Sujita Sinha,
Interesting Engineering,
2 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Blackouts that once lasted hours now can go on for days.—
Patrick Oppmann,
CNN Money,
7 Mar. 2026
-
An eighth-grader at Maranatha Christian School won the county spelling bee Thursday, beating his closest rival after a one-on-one face-off that lasted 13 rounds.—
Jemma Stephenson,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
6 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Talarico prevailed on momentum in South Texas, suggesting a strong showing among Hispanic voters, but he got blown out in Dallas and parts of East Texas, which was Crockett country.—
Philip Elliott,
Time,
4 Mar. 2026
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Jan Schakowsky prevailed, and the guy who came in last was a young heir to a hotel fortune named JB Pritzker.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
3 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Held out.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/held%20out. Accessed 8 Mar. 2026.
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