hold up: meaning and explanation
to hold somebody/something up = to delay somebody or something.
It is easy to use this phrasal verb as an alternative to the verb delay. e.g. I don’t want to hold you up = I don’t want to delay you.
We often use the phrasal verb in the passive (to be/get held up) when we want to focus on the person or thing that is delayed. e.g. I got held up at work.
We can also use this phrasal verb as a noun – a hold up, e.g. Sorry for the hold up, your drinks will be ready in the next couple of minutes.
Have a go at these micro-dictation exercises to hear this expression being used in context – how much can you understand?
Listening exercises
Dictation #1
Accent: Ireland
Dictation #2
Accent: Northern England
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Dictation #3
Accent: England (London)
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About the sentence
…we’ve been waiting…
The present perfect continuous is used here to describe an action that started in the past and continues up to the present, and also to emphasise the duration of this action. e.g. I’ve been reading this book for two months and I’m not even halfway through.
I almost everyday sleep until late because the most days I arrive late at night and tired from the dancing training. So when I must to awake early is easy for me to got held up by the warm sheets of my bed if I don’t hear the alarm I put in my phone.
Hi Gustavo! I like your example – I’ve never heard anyone say they got held up by their bed/warm sheets, but I know exactly what you mean 🙂
Here are some sentences with corrections – compare to your original example to see the changes.
“Almost everyday I sleep until late because most days I arrive late at night and tired from dancing training”.
“So when I must wake up early it is easy for me to get held up…” (after modal verbs like ‘must’, we only ever use the basic form of the verb).
We would use the phrase ‘to set an alarm’ (not put).
Well done!
I got the meaning, but there is another phrasal verb which is “Hold your head up”. So how can I understand the meaning of that one?