Word.ws English Dictionary

hold the fort

hold the fort verb: to assume or take responsibility, especially in another's absence.

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 the fort

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

Questions about hold the fort

What does hold the fort mean?
Hold the fort means to assume or take responsibility, especially in another's absence.
What part of speech is hold the fort?
Hold the fort is a verb.
What is the past tense of hold the fort?
The past tense of hold the fort is held the fort.

Words near hold the fort in the dictionary

  1. hold that thought
  2. hold the aces
  3. hold the book
  4. hold the cards
  5. hold the floor
  6. hold the fort
  7. hold the line
  8. hold the phone
  9. hold the purse strings
  10. hold the reins
  11. hold the ring

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: 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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