From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishhold up phrasal verb1 SUPPORT/HOLD UP hold something ↔ up to support something and prevent it from falling down The roof is held up by massive stone pillars.2 DELAY hold somebody/something ↔ up to delay someone or something Sorry I’m late – I was held up at work.Grammar Hold up is often passive in this meaning.3 hold up somethingSTEAL to rob or try to rob a place or person by using violence Two armed men held up a downtown liquor store last night. → hold-up4 SAMEto not become weaker His physical condition has held up well. → hold→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
hold up• They should have finished that job on Friday - what's holding them up?• Why don't we use some of these pieces of wood to hold it up?• Her stubbornness on this one issue is holding the whole deal up.• He was arrested and charged with holding up a cab driver.• The peace talks are being held up by continued fighting on the border.• I won't hold you up - I can see you're in a hurry.• We got held up in traffic and missed the show.• We can't knock that wall down. It's the one that holds up the house.• These poles hold up the outer part of the tent.• The men who held up the store were wearing Halloween masks.• Get a move on, you two! You're holding up the whole queue!• The only thing holding the wall up was a frail-looking section of scaffolding.• Protesters held up work on the new road.hold-upˈhold-up noun [countable] 1 DELAYa situation that stops something from happening or making progress SYN delay traffic hold-ups on the highway Despite the odd hold-up, we finished on time.2 informalSTEAL an attempt to rob a place or person by threatening them with a weapon SYN robbery a bank hold-up → hold up at hold1Examples from the Corpus
hold-up• It came about one day that he had no money to play, and he committed a hold-up in a store.• A man was shot dead in a hold-up at a downtown bank.• People are afraid to use the buses because of armed hold-ups.• The model 214-2F research biomass monitor has increased sensitivity, improved long-term stability and reduced effect of gas hold-up in fermenters.• At Trenton there was one last hold-up.• There was one hold-up after another and all the time Clift became more and more frail.• It was an uneasy switch from the difficulties of homeowners to a light-hearted story about hard-up baboons staging hold-ups of passing cars.• Hakkar admitted he took part in the hold-up, but denied having fired a gun.From Longman Business Dictionaryhold up phrasal verb [intransitive]FINANCE if a price, value etc holds up, it stays at or near the same level, especially when it was expected to fallCopper prices held up surprisingly well during the recession. → hold→ See Verb tablehold-upˈhold-up noun [countable]TRANSPORTMANUFACTURING a delay, for example in transport or productionmotorway holdups 