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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

withhold.

To keep (a physical object that one has obtained) to oneself rather than giving it back to its owner.

8 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb/wɪθˈhəʊld/UK/wɪðˈhəʊld/UK/wɪθˈhoʊld/US/wɪðˈhoʊld/US
  1. To keep (a physical object that one has obtained) to oneself rather than giving it back to its owner.

    transitive
    The bank withheld her credit card.
  2. To keep (information, assent, etc.) to oneself rather than revealing it.

    transitive
    withhold vital information
    a withheld phone number
  3. To stay back, to refrain.

    intransitive
    I’ll withhold from asking about it.
Where this word comes from

From Middle English withholden. Equivalent to with- + hold.

noun/wɪθˈhəʊld/UK/wɪðˈhəʊld/UK/wɪθˈhoʊld/US/wɪðˈhoʊld/US
  1. An immoral action or condition (an overt) that has not been disclosed to others; the consciousness of such an action or condition.

Where this word comes from

From Middle English withholden. Equivalent to with- + hold.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.