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
Noah Whittington, who leads Oregon with 829 rushing yards, was held out with an undisclosed injury after Jordon Davison, who had rushed for 667 yards and 15 touchdowns, already was listed as out with a collarbone injury.
—
Jackson Thompson, FOXNews.com, 10 Jan. 2026
Noah Whittington, who leads Oregon with 829 rushing yards, was held out with an undisclosed injury after Jordon Davison, who had rushed for 667 yards and 15 touchdowns, already was listed as out with a collarbone injury.
—CBS News, 9 Jan. 2026
He was held out of the third-place game.
—Ishmael Johnson, Dallas Morning News, 2 Jan. 2026
Star receiver Davante Adams also could be held out till then.
—Los Angeles Times, 2 Jan. 2026
Pittsburgh held out the hope of jobs.
—Equal Justice Initiative, USA Today, 6 Nov. 2025
After the catch, Pickens held out the ball toward Cardinals cornerback Denzel Burke.
—Matt Audilet, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Nov. 2025
Fisheries managers on rivers like the Platte still held out a little, allowing any angler to keep one trout longer than 20 inches.
—Christine Peterson, Outdoor Life, 30 Oct. 2025
The team did imaging on his thumb this week, which led to Dalton being held out of practice on Wednesday.
—Mike Kaye, Charlotte Observer, 29 Oct. 2025
Jackson Thompson, FOXNews.com, 10 Jan. 2026
Noah Whittington, who leads Oregon with 829 rushing yards, was held out with an undisclosed injury after Jordon Davison, who had rushed for 667 yards and 15 touchdowns, already was listed as out with a collarbone injury.
—CBS News, 9 Jan. 2026
He was held out of the third-place game.
—Ishmael Johnson, Dallas Morning News, 2 Jan. 2026
Star receiver Davante Adams also could be held out till then.
—Los Angeles Times, 2 Jan. 2026
Pittsburgh held out the hope of jobs.
—Equal Justice Initiative, USA Today, 6 Nov. 2025
After the catch, Pickens held out the ball toward Cardinals cornerback Denzel Burke.
—Matt Audilet, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Nov. 2025
Fisheries managers on rivers like the Platte still held out a little, allowing any angler to keep one trout longer than 20 inches.
—Christine Peterson, Outdoor Life, 30 Oct. 2025
The team did imaging on his thumb this week, which led to Dalton being held out of practice on Wednesday.
—Mike Kaye, Charlotte Observer, 29 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for held out
Verb
-
Ewing never married or had children, but is survived by other family members, per Extra.—
Ingrid Vasquez,
PEOPLE,
10 Jan. 2026
-
Despite the rest of the royal family being executed, their eldest daughter, Marie-Thérèse, survived.—
Elle Meier,
InStyle,
9 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Like many, my love for vanilla started in middle school with a cloyingly sweet mall brand body mist that lasted on my skin for all of 15 minutes.—
Reece Andavolgyi,
InStyle,
12 Jan. 2026
-
In years past, Newsom would personally go through the budget, almost line-by-line, in presentations that sometimes lasted three hours.—
Dan Walters,
Oc Register,
12 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
With president of baseball and business operations Derek Falvey in charge, the Twins have gone to arbitration hearings three times and the team has prevailed each time (Kyle Gibson in 2018, José Berríos in 2020 and Nick Gordon 2024).—
Betsy Helfand,
Twin Cities,
9 Jan. 2026
-
San Jose has prevailed in five of its last six outings, including Tuesday’s win over Columbus.—
Andrew Knoll,
Daily News,
8 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Held out.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/held%20out. Accessed 14 Jan. 2026.
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