Meaning & use
held back
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“held back” is a form of “hold back”.
Meanings
verbtransitive
Past tense of 'hold back': stopped someone or something from moving forward or making progress.
Grammar: Needs an object: 'The crowd held back the players.' The object can come before or after 'back' with pronouns: 'held them back'.
Patterns
- held someone back
- held something back
- held back someone
The heavy rain held back the rescue team for hours.
Poor grades held him back from getting into college.
She felt her shyness held her back at work.
verbtransitive
Past tense of 'hold back': chose not to say or show something, especially an emotion or information.
Grammar: Often used with 'from': 'held back from saying something'. Can also take a direct object: 'held back the news'.
Patterns
- held back from doing something
- held back information
- held back tears
He held back his anger during the meeting.
The witness held back important details from the police.
She held back from telling him the truth.
verbtransitive
Past tense of 'hold back': prevented something from increasing or developing fully.
Grammar: Common with prices, growth, or progress: 'held back inflation'.
Patterns
- held back prices
- held back growth
- held back progress
The new rules held back economic growth.
Farmers held back their produce to keep prices high.
Lack of funding held back the project.
Common combinations
- held back tears
- She held back tears as she said goodbye.
- held back by fear
- He was held back by fear of failure.
- held back from doing
- They held back from making a decision.
- held back progress
- The storm held back progress on the bridge.
Synonyms and how they differ
- restrained
- Focuses on keeping someone or something under control, often physically; 'held back' is more about preventing forward movement or expression.
- withheld
- Used mainly for information, money, or support that is deliberately not given; 'held back' is broader and can also mean physically stopped.
- delayed
- Emphasizes making something happen later; 'held back' emphasizes stopping or slowing progress.
Opposites
Word family
- hold back verb
- The base form; to stop or prevent progress or expression.
- holdback noun
- A thing that delays or prevents progress; also a type of strap or check.
Commonly confused: held back or hold up?
held back vs hold up
'Hold up' can mean to delay or to rob, while 'hold back' means to stop someone from moving forward or to keep something from being expressed.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'held back' correctly to mean 'prevented from making progress'?
Choose one answer.
'Held back' means stopped or slowed progress, so 'The bad weather held back the team's training' fits. 'Held back the book from the shelf' is wrong because you 'took' a book from a shelf, not 'held it back'. 'Held back his hand to wave' is odd because 'held back' does not mean raised. 'Held back the meeting to next week' is wrong because you 'put off' or 'postponed' a meeting.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “held back”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.