Synonyms of holding down

holding down

verb

present participle of hold down

as in limiting

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

• limiting
• restricting
• tightening
• confining
• capping
• blocking
• circumscribing
• impeding
• suppressing
• hindering
• obstructing
• modifying
• narrowing
• lessening
• hampering
• contracting
• squeezing
• barring
• numbering
• pinching
• qualifying
• repressing
• constricting
• quelling

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• exceeding
• expanding
• widening
• broadening
• overreaching
• overextending

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of holding down

The switch was so successful in holding down costs that Montana dipped into the health plan’s reserves in 2017 to help cover a particularly bad forest fire season. — Bob Herman, STAT, 18 Aug. 2026

Motion opened the gallery in Kings Cross in a disused betting parlor next door to a kebab shop in 2016 while also holding down a day job. — Brian Boucher, ARTnews.com, 11 Aug. 2026

Getty Images The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced Wednesday a program that has been holding down the cost of prescription drug coverage for roughly 25 million Americans will end after this year. — Jesse Pines, Forbes.com, 31 July 2026

Carefully lift main bone from fish to remove, holding down bottom fillets with your other hand as needed. — Alexia Duchêne, Bon Appetit Magazine, 23 July 2026

Beckham mostly lets actor Josh Lucas do the talking, which makes sense given the fact that Lucas has been holding down the brand’s voiceover duties since 2013. — Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 10 July 2026

Anchoring the reeds and holding down the baritone sax chair defined with soulful panache by Harry Carney for nearly five decades is Kamrin Ortiz. — Andrew Gilbert, Mercury News, 7 July 2026

The billionaire said that choosing to go in or not could mean the difference between simply holding down a job and building a career. — Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 30 June 2026

Over the next few years, however, the Canucks must operate with an eye toward selling these veteran players when their value is at its highest for the sort of future assets that, instead of holding down the next great Canucks team, can give the machinery of the next great Canucks team a boost. — Thomas Drance, New York Times, 23 June 2026