withhold

English

WOTD – 29 October 2008

Etymology

From Middle English withholden. Equivalent to with- +‎ hold.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wɪθˈhəʊld/, /wɪðˈhəʊld/
• IPA^(key): /wɪθˈhoʊld/, /wɪðˈhoʊld/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (AU):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊld

Verb

withhold (third-person singular simple present withholds, present participle withholding, simple past withheld, past participle withheld or (rare) withholden)

1. (transitive) To keep (a physical object that one has obtained) to oneself rather than giving it back to its owner.
2. (transitive) To keep (information, assent etc) to oneself rather than revealing it.
3. (intransitive) To stay back.

Synonyms

• (keep (a physical object) to oneself): retain

Derived terms

• overwithhold
• underwithhold

Translations

to keep an object

• Arabic: إحتفاظ (بشيء) للنفس
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 据为己有 (zh) (jùwéijǐyǒu)

• Czech: ponechat si, neposkytnout
• Finnish: pitää (itsellään) (fi)
• Galician: reter
• German: zurückhalten (de), einbehalten (de)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Greek: κατακρατώ (el) (katakrató)
• Hungarian: megtart (hu)
• Italian: trattenere (it)
• Maori: meko, kaiponu
• Portuguese: reter (pt)
• Russian: уде́рживать (ru) (udérživatʹ), удержа́ть (ru) (uderžátʹ)
• Spanish: retener (es), negar (es)

to keep information

• Arabic: كتم
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 隐瞒 (zh) (yǐnmán)

• Czech: ponechat si, utajit, ututlat
• Finnish: pitää omana tietonaan (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• German: zurückhalten (de), vorenthalten (de)
• Hungarian: elhallgat (hu)
• Portuguese: privar (pt)
• Russian: ута́ивать (ru) (utáivatʹ), ума́лчивать (ru) (umálčivatʹ)
• Spanish: retener (es), negar (es), rehusar (es), reservar (es)

to retain

• Arabic: إستئثار
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 保留 (zh) (bǎoliú), 扣留 (zh) (kòuliú)

• Czech: ponechat si, podržet si, odepřít, odmítnout (cs)
• Dutch: onthouden (nl), onttrekken (nl) (aan)
• Finnish: evätä (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• German: vorenthalten (de)
• Hungarian: visszatart (hu)
• Maori: meko
• Portuguese: reter (pt)
• Spanish: retener (es)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• French: ^{(please verify)} retenir (fr)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Irish: ^{(please verify)} coinnigh siar