hold down
Britishverb
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to restrain or control
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informal to manage to retain or keep possession of
to hold down two jobs at once
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Also, keep down . Limit, restrain, as in Please hold down the noise . [First half of 1500s] Also see keep down .
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Work at or discharge one's duties satisfactorily, as in He managed to hold down two jobs at the same time . [ Colloquial ; 1800s]
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Plus, the Federal Reserve plans to buy hundreds of billions of short-term Treasury bonds annually, another move that would pump money into the financial system and hold down rates.
From Barron's • Dec. 18, 2025
If employees can do a task faster and more productively with a better tool, they can hold down costs, and demand for these services might rise over time.
From MarketWatch • Dec. 5, 2025
She recalls how Néstor Kirchner banned beef exports to hold down domestic prices, ruining her cattle farm.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 24, 2025
The money help students from low-income families attend the free full-day training with less pressure to hold down an outside job.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 15, 2025
For a moment they were silent, facing each other, their shoulders thrown back, their lips compressed to hold down the mounting impulse to laugh.
From "Native Son" by Richard Wright
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
