hold hard

A verbal phrase composed of the words: hold ("grasp", "grip") and hard ("resistantly", "resolutely", "solidly", "steadfastly").

hold hard (third-person singular simple present holds hard, present participle holding hard, simple past and past participle held hard)

1. (idiomatic, figurative) To stubbornly resist assault, pressure or opposition, either physically or mentally.

   Synonyms: hold fast, hold firm, hold one's ground, stand firm, stand fast, stand one's ground

   Antonyms: let go, leave go, leave hold

   • 1881 (Feb 6), Charles Spurgeon, Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Volume 27, Sermon on Galatians 5:22:

     I would sooner walk in the dark, and hold hard to a promise of my God, than trust in the light of the brightest day that ever dawned.

   • 1970, Ernest Hemingway, Islands in the Stream:

     You must hold hard to life and do it. But life is a cheap thing beside a man's work. The only thing is that you need it. Hold it tight.

2. (literal, nautical) A formal command to a ship's crew to grasp and hold on to a solid fitting, such as ropes or rails, to avoid being swept overboard, especially during a storm.

   Synonym: hold fast

   All hands...hold hard!

   • 1902, Joseph Conrad, Typhoon:

     They were all on the bridge when the real force of the hurricane struck the ship. He had no idea where they had crawled to. Under the circumstances they were nowhere, for all the use that could be made of them. Somehow the Captain's wish to know distressed Jukes. "Want the hands, sir?" he cried, apprehensively. "Ought to know," asserted Captain MacWhirr. "Hold hard!" They held hard. An outburst of unchained fury, a vicious rush of the wind absolutely steadied the ship; she rocked only, quick and light like a child's cradle, for a terrific moment of suspense, while the whole atmosphere, as it seemed, streamed furiously past her, roaring away from the tenebrous earth.

   • 1902, Joseph Conrad, Typhoon:

     Captain MacWhirr had his mate's head fixed firm in the crook of his elbow, and pressed it to his yelling lips mysteriously. Sometimes Jukes would break in, admonishing hastily: "Look out, sir!" or Captain MacWhirr would bawl an earnest exhortation to "Hold hard, there!" and the whole black universe seemed to reel together with the ship.

A verbal phrase composed of the words: hold ("maintain or keep to a position or state") and hard ("resolutely", "steadfastly"). Originally an expression used in riding or driving, now general.

hold hard (third-person singular simple present holds hard, present participle holding hard, simple past and past participle held hard)

1. (UK, dated, Rhode Island, figurative, often imperative) To stop suddenly and remain still.

   Hold hard: here come the sheep.

• stop short
• stand fast

• John Camden Hotten (1873), The Slang Dictionary
• “hold hard”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.