Word.ws English Dictionary

hold it in

hold it in verb: to withhold release of one's emotions, often for fear of some negative consequence, or out of guilt or denial.

Verb

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

  1. To withhold release of one's emotions, often for fear of some negative consequence, or out of guilt or denial.
  2. To wait for a more opportune time to urinate or defecate, despite present physical urgency.
    Synonyms:
    hold it

Synonyms of hold it in

Forms of hold it in

third-person singular presentholds it in
present participleholding it in
past participleheld it in
pastheld it in

Questions about hold it in

What does hold it in mean?
Hold it in means to withhold release of one's emotions, often for fear of some negative consequence, or out of guilt or denial.
What part of speech is hold it in?
Hold it in is a verb.
What is the past tense of hold it in?
The past tense of hold it in is held it in.

Words near hold it in in the dictionary

  1. hold in contempt
  2. hold in derision
  3. hold in hand
  4. hold it
  5. hold it down
  6. hold it in
  7. hold it together
  8. hold luggage
  9. hold my beer
  10. hold my milk
  11. hold off

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: hold it in (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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