(a) To exercise restraint [quots. ?a1425(?a1350) & last]; restrain (sb., oneself); also, restrain (oneself from sth., an action); (b) to restrain (the tongue, a hand, etc.);—also without obj. [quot. a1250]; keep back (tears); slow (the movement of Fortune’s wheel); also, check (envy); of God: stay (vengeance, his hand); (c) to forestall an event [quot. c1384]; prevent (a condition or an action); (d) to withstand (someone’s will); of a shield: withstand (a blow); (e) ppl. withholdinge, constraining.

(a) To hold back (sth., thoughts), keep to oneself; refuse to grant, give, or share (sth.); also, refuse to perform (one’s duty to God); deny (the symbols of kingship to sb.) [quot. a1420]; (b) to refuse to divulge (sth.); fig. of virtues: refuse to extend (themselves over sb.); (c) to detain (sb.), cause to remain; keep (sb.) in custody or servitude; also fig.; also, keep (sb. or sth. from sb.); of illness: incapacitate (sb.); ppl. withholdinge, tending to entrap; (d) fig. to seal off (heaven), keep from opening.

(a) To retain (sth.), preserve; remember (sth.), bear in mind;—also without obj.; also, fig. & refl. be self-contained [quot. 1435]; ~ in herte; (b) to keep (sth.), possess, hold onto; hold (lands); ben withholden with, be involved with (matters); ppl. withholdinge, holding to (sth.); also, in a state of possession [quot. a1382, 2nd]; (c) to take (sb.) into one’s retinue or service; also fig.; also, engage (supporters); ~ with at soude, to be retained by (sb.) for pay; (d) to reserve (a prerogative to oneself); (e) physiol. to cause retention [quots. c1475]; retain (breath, a bodily fluid, etc.); cause (a bodily fluid, hair) to be retained; also, hold (one’s breath); withholdinge of the blod, tending to stanch bleeding; (f) of pallor: to take hold of (someone’s face), suffuse.

(a) To maintain (sth., a state, etc.), preserve; also, shelter (sheep); (b) to protect (sb. from sth.); (c) to sustain (sb. or sth.), support, uphold; ?also, treat (sb. in a certain way) [last quot.].

?To affect (to do sth.).