hold on
verb1
To grasp or grip firmly.
- Hold on tightly to the railing.
2
Idiomatic To keep; to store something for someone.
- Hold on to my umbrella while I ride the roller coaster.
3
Idiomatic To retain an advantage.
- I'm holding on to my trump cards until I really need them.
4
Idiomatic Wait a short while.
- Hold on while I get my coat.
- The departure was not unduly prolonged. In the road Mr. Love and the driver favoured the company with a brief chanty running. “Got it?—No, I ain't, 'old on,—Got it? Got it?—No, 'old on sir.”1921, Ben Travers, chapter 5, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:
5
Idiomatic To remain loyal.
- He didn't give up his fandom when others did; he held on.
6
Idiomatic To persist.
- This trade held on for many years.1723, Jonathan Swift, Some Arguments Against Enlarging the Power of Bishops:
- That scare aside, Wolves had little trouble in holding on for their first league away win of the season and their first over the Reds since little-known striker Steve Mardenborough gave them a victory at Anfield in January 1984.2010 December 29, Sam Sheringham, “Liverpool 0-1 Wolverhampton”, in BBC: