Word.ws English Dictionary

hold down the fort

hold down the fort is the alternative form of hold the fort.

Meaning of hold the fort

Verb

hold the fort (third-person singular simple present holds the fort, present participle holding the fort, simple past and past participle held the fort)

  1. To assume or take responsibility, especially in another's absence.
  2. To maintain a secure position.

Forms of hold down the fort

third-person singular presentholds down the fort
present participleholding down the fort
past participleheld down the fort
pastheld down the fort

Questions about hold down the fort

What is hold down the fort the alternative form of?
Hold down the fort is the alternative form of hold the fort.

Words near hold down the fort in the dictionary

  1. hold cheap
  2. hold come what may
  3. hold court
  4. hold dear
  5. hold down
  6. hold down the fort
  7. hold fast
  8. hold fire
  9. hold firm
  10. hold for ransom
  11. hold forth

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: hold down the fort (page history and authors); hold the fort (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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