as in surviving
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 holding out
Helman, a product of Texas A&M, seemed surprised when Nimmo was holding out the Rolex before giving him the box.
—
Lawrence Dow, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 16 Mar. 2026
Not here in Chinatown, but perhaps this place is holding out for something better, something more real.
—Xuan Juliana Wang, Los Angeles Times, 12 Mar. 2026
Mourinho had seen enough and marched over to Parkinson on the touchline, holding out his hand in a gesture intended to concede defeat.
—Richard Sutcliffe, New York Times, 8 Mar. 2026
Child care providers and workers in Michigan are holding out hope for more.
—Beki San Martin, Freep.com, 8 Mar. 2026
The unscripted business has been holding out hope that under Wiseman and Holland, Paramount+ will become another major buyer of reality formats and series to rival the likes of Netflix and the broadcast networks.
—Peter White, Deadline, 5 Mar. 2026
Brendan Morrow Speaking to NBC News, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said investigators are holding out hope that Nancy Guthrie is alive.
—Taijuan Moorman, USA Today, 5 Feb. 2026
In the meantime, Musto said that PennDOT keeps holding out for sunshine.
—John Shumway, CBS News, 4 Feb. 2026
But this was largely attributed to buyers holding out for better prices that may yet follow and the overall market remains resilient.
—Gaurav Sharma, Forbes.com, 23 Jan. 2026
Lawrence Dow, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 16 Mar. 2026
Not here in Chinatown, but perhaps this place is holding out for something better, something more real.
—Xuan Juliana Wang, Los Angeles Times, 12 Mar. 2026
Mourinho had seen enough and marched over to Parkinson on the touchline, holding out his hand in a gesture intended to concede defeat.
—Richard Sutcliffe, New York Times, 8 Mar. 2026
Child care providers and workers in Michigan are holding out hope for more.
—Beki San Martin, Freep.com, 8 Mar. 2026
The unscripted business has been holding out hope that under Wiseman and Holland, Paramount+ will become another major buyer of reality formats and series to rival the likes of Netflix and the broadcast networks.
—Peter White, Deadline, 5 Mar. 2026
Brendan Morrow Speaking to NBC News, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said investigators are holding out hope that Nancy Guthrie is alive.
—Taijuan Moorman, USA Today, 5 Feb. 2026
In the meantime, Musto said that PennDOT keeps holding out for sunshine.
—John Shumway, CBS News, 4 Feb. 2026
But this was largely attributed to buyers holding out for better prices that may yet follow and the overall market remains resilient.
—Gaurav Sharma, Forbes.com, 23 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for holding out
Verb
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The film stars Samara Weaving as Grace, who finds herself, and her estranged sister, played by Kathryn Newton, the target of another murder spree after surviving a brutal, ritualistic near-death experience from the first film.—
Julia Teti,
Footwear News,
19 Mar. 2026
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Krebs says that the humans with the best odds of surviving in the wild are children.—
Andrew McKean,
Outdoor Life,
19 Mar. 2026
Verb
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With heavy snow and blizzard conditions expected in the Twin Cities starting late Saturday and lasting through the day on Sunday, there was concern about whether the Maple Leafs’ team plane would be able to arrive as scheduled after Toronto played a Saturday night game in Buffalo.—
Jess Myers,
Twin Cities,
15 Mar. 2026
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Kids may have lasting trauma and mental health issues if the family dynamic is not addressed.—
Sherri Gordon,
Parents,
15 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Ilko argues that the players’ respective physical features challenged the prevailing European system that emphasized whiteness.—
Andrew Paul,
Popular Science,
19 Mar. 2026
-
Big spending on behalf of cryptocurrency also seeped into Tuesday’s primaries in Illinois, with only one of the super PAC Fairshake’s four preferred contenders prevailing.—
Rachel Schilke,
The Washington Examiner,
18 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The unlikely pair blasted through the song, with Braxton keeping up on the mic, to the delight of the crowd.—
Rolling Stone,
Rolling Stone,
15 Mar. 2026
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When times are tough, keeping up the daily grind is a meaningful accomplishment.—
Tarot.com,
The Orlando Sentinel,
9 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Hungary's nationalist prime minister, Viktor Orbán, has accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of deliberately holding up oil supplies -- claims that Zelenskyy denies.—
LORNE COOK THE ASSOCIATED PRESS,
Arkansas Online,
18 Mar. 2026
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The company said growing demand for power, supply chain and other issues holding up new power sources and plant outages contributed to the need to keep Comanche 2 open longer than planned.—
Judith Kohler,
Denver Post,
10 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Holding out.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/holding%20out. Accessed 20 Mar. 2026.
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