ahold

See also: a-hold

English

Alternative forms

a-hold (adverb)

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /əˈhoʊld/

Etymology 1

a- +‎ hold

Adverb

ahold (not comparable)

(nautical, obsolete) (of a ship) Brought to lie as near to the windward as it can to get out to sea, and thereby held steady.
- 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:
  Lay her a hold, a hold, ſet her two courſes off to Sea againe, lay her off.

Translations

nautical

German: dicht am Wind

Etymology 2

a +‎ hold

Noun

ahold (uncountable)

(informal) A hold, grip, grasp.
- 2009, Tim Irwin, Derailed: Five Lessons Learned from Catastrophic Failures of Leadership‎, Thomas Nelson Inc., →ISBN, page 121:
  GET AHOLD OF YOURSELF!

Usage notes

Mainly used in phrases such as catch, lay, take or get ahold of, on or upon something.
In formal writing, this word is generally avoided in favor of a more formal synonym.

Translations

German: sich zusammenreißen, jemanden zwischen die Finger bekommen
Russian: захва́т (ru) m (zaxvát), уде́рживание (ru) n (udérživanije)

References

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for ahold in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913)

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.