Word.ws English Dictionary

holding the reins

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

Meaning of hold the reins

Verb

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

  1. (idiomatic) To be in charge, to be in control, as of a business, political organization, or other group.
    • These terms . . . will place the future behavior of Germany at the dictation of the associated powers regardless of what form of provisional government may hold the reins at Berlin.1918 November 11, “Washington Believes Foch Will Still Accept Envoys' Signatures”, in Toronto World, page 1

Questions about holding the reins

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

Words near holding the reins in the dictionary

  1. holding the cards
  2. holding the floor
  3. holding the line
  4. holding the phone
  5. holding the purse strings
  6. holding the reins
  7. holding the ring
  8. holding the road
  9. holding the stage
  10. holding tight
  11. holding time

Source and license

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