Word.ws English Dictionary

holding the line

holding the line is the present participle and gerund of hold the line.

Meaning of hold the line

Verb

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

  1. (idiomatic) To firmly maintain one's viewpoint, principles, or situation; to refuse to change one's practices or plans.
    • The UN General Assembly was expected to hold the line again today against seating Red China.1966 November 29, “UN Expected To Hold Line On Red China”, in The Robesonian, USA, retrieved 29 Aug 2012, page 1

Questions about holding the line

What is holding the line the present participle and gerund of?
Holding the line is the present participle and gerund of hold the line.

Words near holding the line in the dictionary

  1. holding the aces
  2. holding the ball
  3. holding the book
  4. holding the cards
  5. holding the floor
  6. holding the line
  7. holding the phone
  8. holding the purse strings
  9. holding the reins
  10. holding the ring
  11. holding the road

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: holding the line (page history and authors); hold the line (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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