Hold and Play

Hold

Hold verb - To have or keep in one's hands.

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Play and hold are semantically related. In some cases you can use "Play" instead a verb "Hold".

Nearby Words: holding, holder, holdback

Play verb - To engage in activity for amusement.

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Hold and play are semantically related. Sometimes you can use "Hold" instead a verb "Play".

Nearby Words: played, playful, player, playfulness, playing

old	old hold	old play
good	good hold	good play
full	full hold	full play
long	long hold	long play
Other adjectives: short, original, single, poor, actual, entire, big, little, main, interesting, famous, final, last, said.

The Flyers proceeded to score on the power play and hold onto the 43 lead, making them not only the third team to win a playoff series after losing the first three games, but also the third team to rally back from a three goal deficit in Game 7.

Source: Miracle Rally
Throwaway lines like "I can hold my breath for 10 minutes" can come back into play much later.

Source: Brick Joke / Video Games
Well, "don't let vanity hold you back," and "Love at First Sight is ridiculous." The play also introduced the term panache into the English language.

Source: Theatre / Cyrano de Bergerac

Cite this Source

Play and Hold. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 22, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/hold/play

Hold & Play. N.p., 2016. Web. 22 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/hold/play>.

Play or Hold. 2016. Accessed July 22, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/hold/play.

Google Ngram Viewer shows how "hold" and "play" have occurred on timeline