How to Use hold down in a Sentence

hold down

verb
  • But who will hold down Prescott’s blind side?
    — Jon MacHota, New York Times, 27 Apr. 2026
  • Good art can never be held down!
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 11 Apr. 2026
  • She is held down and handcuffed.
    — Charlotte Observer, 20 Nov. 2025
  • Yeah, no one was holding down her legs.
    — Peter Larsen, Daily News, 7 Mar. 2026
  • My mother held down three jobs at one time to support us.
    — Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 18 Aug. 2025
  • Can the New York Knicks hold down home court?
    — Andrew Greif, NBC news, 10 June 2026
  • On Android, hold down on a thread then hit the trash can icon.
    — Fox News, 14 Nov. 2023
  • Just hold down the comment and select delete.
    — Jibin Joseph, PC Magazine, 10 Apr. 2026
  • Wind storms would come up, and people are having to hold down the lights.
    — Anne Thompson, IndieWire, 4 June 2026
  • The shoulder-length, dirty-blond hair held down with a headband.
    — Matthew Futterman, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2025
  • Maybe Bates will excel and can hold down the spot for two or three years.
    — Brad Biggs, Chicago Tribune, 12 June 2024
  • This is great in pairs but is bold enough to sit on its own and hold down a corner of a room.
    — Ming Thompson, Curbed, 21 Sep. 2021
  • And clever enough, somehow, to hold down a brisk 500 pages.
    — Literary Hub, 14 Jan. 2026
  • Zarutska was a white woman who was holding down a job.
    — Debra J. Saunders, Oc Register, 12 Sep. 2025
  • But doing that while also holding down a job is a recipe for burnout.
    — Daniel Wine, CNN, 14 Oct. 2024
  • Thomas Lane, who held down Floyd’s leg, pleaded guilty to both.
    — Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 16 June 2023
  • For close to three years, Myanmar’s junta has held down the fort.
    — Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 7 Dec. 2023
  • And then Dell, a huge double-double, just held down the paint.
    — Jason Beede, Orlando Sentinel, 16 Mar. 2025
  • Rachel, Helen, and Zoe watch as she’s held down against her will.
    — Sam Reed, Glamour, 9 Jan. 2026
  • Dozens of trucks are fully loaded with garbage covered and held down with tarps.
    — Eleanor Beardsley, NPR, 27 May 2026
  • But it will be held down by a long fin below the surface that serves as a sea anchor.
    — Michael Verdon, Robb Report, 28 Sep. 2023
  • Around one to two people can hold down a small gator, while larger gators need three to four people.
    — Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 2 Aug. 2025
  • Sam Bennett and Lundell will hold down the top two spots.
    — Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 27 Sep. 2025
  • To add a widget to your iPhone’s home screen, find a blank spot and hold down your finger.
    — Tatum Hunter, Washington Post, 7 June 2023
  • To add a widget to your iPhone’s home screen, find a blank spot and hold down your finger.
    — Washington Post, 2 Sep. 2021
  • The two runs were just enough to hold down the Mets, who were shut out for just the third time this season.
    — Jen McCaffrey, New York Times, 21 May 2025
  • Johnson has been a major factor in holding down the fort.
    — Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 24 Dec. 2025
  • In addition to baseball and schoolwork, some of his guys hold down jobs.
    — Nathan Canilao, The Mercury News, 9 May 2024
  • Look at Daniel just holding down that shoe department for decades.
    — Maggie Fremont, Vulture, 25 July 2025
  • Too many people meant that we could be overpowered and held down until the cops showed up.
    — Jared Lemus, The Atlantic, 9 Mar. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hold down.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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