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Gene93 Posted 11 years ago
Vocabulary
to hold back
Hello,
What exactly is the meaning of hold back in these sentences: "If the economic environment remains poor, then buyers and banks will hold back. ", "Will Google start to hold back or charge for android use by other manufacturers?". I apologize for the silly question, but the dictionaries I use don't say much about the intransitive use of the verb. That's the definition: "to not do something, often because of fear or because you do not want to make a bad situation worse." I don't think it applies here.
What exactly is the meaning of hold back in these sentences: "If the economic environment remains poor, then buyers and banks will hold back. ", "Will Google start to hold back or charge for android use by other manufacturers?". I apologize for the silly question, but the dictionaries I use don't say much about the intransitive use of the verb. That's the definition: "to not do something, often because of fear or because you do not want to make a bad situation worse." I don't think it applies here.
Top answer
Gene93 "to not do something, often because of fear That is a better definition. However, you need a context for "hold back" - ie. what is the "something" that they are not dong?
- Gene93 "to not do something, often because of fear That is a better definition.
- However, you need a context for "hold back" - ie.
- what is the "something" that they are not dong?
- "If the economic environment remains poor, then buyers and banks will hold back.
- " Context: Stock market demand for shares.
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4 Answers
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Gene93"to not do something, often because of fearThat is a better definition.
However, you need a context for "hold back" - ie. what is the "something" that they are not dong?
"If the economic environment remains poor, then buyers and banks will hold back. "
Context: Stock market demand for shares. Buyers will not acquire
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I don't have any context 
. These are just random sentences I copied off fraze.it. The sentence tells me that banks and buyers won't do
. These are just random sentences I copied off fraze.it. The sentence tells me that banks and buyers won't do00
Gene93The sentence tells me that banks and buyers won't do something, but that's about it.Then you have to guess the context, as I did.
Or check another dictionary, such as entry #42 http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hold?s=t.
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What does the "Google" sentence imply to you? They will charge other manufacturers for using android or they won't let them use it, maybe? There's a chance they might hold back. I am only guessing.
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