Word.ws English Dictionary

holds the reins

holds the reins is the third-person singular simple present indicative 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 holds the reins

What is holds the reins the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Holds the reins is the third-person singular simple present indicative of hold the reins.

Words near holds the reins in the dictionary

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

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: holds 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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