Withhold

How to spell withhold

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce withhold

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does withhold mean?

1. verbTo refuse to give or hold back something that could be given, such as money, information, or consent.

Withhold in a sentence

• The agency may withhold payment until the invoice is verified.

• The witness chose to withhold key details from the report.

Where does withhold come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word comes from Old English, formed by joining 'with' to the verb 'hold'. In older English, 'with' did not only mean 'accompanied by'; it also carried the sense of 'back' or 'against', the same force preserved in 'withdraw' and 'withstand'. So withhold literally meant 'to hold back' or 'to keep from being given', and that core meaning has survived essentially unchanged for over a thousand years. The verb 'hold' itself descends from the Old English healdan, meaning to keep, guard, or retain. The spelling trap is built right into the seam where the two parts meet: 'with' ends in an h and 'hold' begins with an h, so the correct form stacks two h letters together, a doubling that writers often reduce to one.

How the word is built

• with- (back, away)
• hold (to keep, from Old English healdan)