unhold

See also: Unhold

English

Alternative forms

• un-hold

Etymology

From Middle English unholden, equivalent to un- +‎ hold.

Verb

unhold (third-person singular simple present unholds, present participle unholding, simple past unheld, past participle unheld or unholden)

1. (transitive) To unhand, release from one's grasp, let go of.
   • 1857, William Maginn, Robert Shelton Mackenzie, Miscellaneous Writings of the Late Dr. Maginn, volume 5, page 37:

     The unrefuted accusation had also been a libel on yourselves, whose great intelligence has unholden Maga in so unprecedented a degree, and who monthly devour the astonishing number of six and thirty thousand of her copies.

   • 1997, Sherwood Anderson, Welford Dunaway Taylor, Charles E. Modlin, Southern Odyssey:

     For each man has the same problem — women — how to hold them when you want to hold them — how to unhold them when you want to unhold.

   • 2008, Jamie Gilson, Chess! I Love It, I Love It, I Love It!, page 10:

     I unheld my ears. It wasn't all that yucky.

   • 2016, Manita Bajaj, Bharat Bhushan Bassan, Appraisals of the Soul: Musings of the Heart:

     Say the love, create the romance, fizz out the anger or walk away the way your heart wishes... Life is simple as we listen daily but only when we un-hold the load... Everything is changing around you and you also can't escape the change.

2. (transitive, telephony) To remove from a "hold" or "on hold" state.
   • 2009, Dante Sarigumba, Robert Kao, BlackBerry Bold For Dummies, page 120:

     Scroll to Hold, and press the trackball. Your call is now on hold. Follow these steps to unhold your call: […]

Middle English

Alternative forms

• unholde

Etymology

From Old English unhold, from Proto-Germanic *unhulþaz.

Adjective

unhold

1. unfriendly; hostile