hold good

English

WOTD – 1 August 2021

Etymology

From hold (“to maintain in being or action; to continue; to sustain”) + good.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌhəʊld ˈɡʊd/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌhoʊld ˈɡʊd/
• Rhymes: -ʊd

Verb

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

1. To continue being true or valid; to hold true.

   Synonym: hold

   That explanation does not hold good in this matter.

   The law holds not good for them.

2. To remain effective, fast, or secure.
   • 1906 August, Alfred Noyes, “The Highwayman”, in Poems, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., published October 1906, →OCLC, part 2, stanza IV, pages 50–51:

     She twisted her hands behind her; but all the knots held good! / She writhed her hands till her fingers were wet with sweat or blood! / They stretched and strained in the darkness, and the hours crawled by like years, / Till, now, on the stroke of midnight, / Cold, on the stroke of midnight, / The tip of one finger touched it! The trigger at least was hers!

Translations

to continue being true or valid — see also hold true

• Danish: gælde (da)
• Greek: αληθεύει (alithévei)

to remain effective, fast, or secure

Further reading

• “to hold good, to hold true” under “hold, v.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, June 2021.
• “hold true (also hold good), phrase”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.