hold
hoʊld
You hold a box, a phone line, and a meeting the same way
The picture Your hand closes on something and keeps it from moving off. It is the force that stops what would otherwise drift away. HOLD grips something right now; KEEP leaves it that way as time passes.
Where the picture shows up in hold
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grip it in hand
Hold this for a second.
hoʊld ðɪs fɔːr ə ˈsekənd
Take this for a moment, please.
Gripping the thing someone handed you and staying still with it.
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grip the phone line
Can you hold the line, please?
kən juː hoʊld ðə laɪn pliːz
Could you stay on the line?
Pinching the phone line between your fingers so it does not drop.
It means don't hang up — nothing is actually being held in your hand.
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hold people inside
This room holds about fifty people.
ðɪs ruːm hoʊldz əˈbaʊt ˈfɪfti ˈpiːpəl
This room fits about fifty.
A room whose walls hold fifty people inside them.
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hold an event open
We're holding a meeting on Monday.
wɪr ˈhoʊldɪŋ ə ˈmiːtɪŋ ɑːn ˈmʌndeɪ
We have a meeting on Monday.
Gathering people who would scatter and pinning them to one place and one hour.
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stay held in place
Hold on, I'll check.
hoʊld ɑːn aɪl tʃek
One moment, let me check.
A step that was about to leave being held in place instead.
All of it in one picture
hold is a hand keeping something from drifting away. Hold an object and you are carrying it for a moment; hold the phone line and you are staying on the call. When walls hold fifty people, that is the room's capacity; when you hold scattered people in one place, that is a meeting; and when your next step is held where it is, that is “hold on”. After every hold you feel the same grip on something that would slip away the moment you let go.