Hold out for
2 meanings · select one to explore
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
Meaning 1 of 3
Definition
To refuse to accept less than what you want
Example sentence
She’s holding out for a better offer.
Real video usage
Three clips showing this meaning in natural speech.
Don’t see captions? Click the CC button on the video to turn them on.
Don’t see captions? Click the CC button on the video to turn them on.
Don’t see captions? Click the CC button on the video to turn them on.
Common collocations
Natural word pairings to memorize.
hold out for a better offer
hold out for a higher salary
hold out for a better price
hold out for a promotion
hold out for the right opportunity
hold out for a better deal
Separable usage
Can the object split the verb? Compare correct vs incorrect.
He held out for a higher salary. ✅ (Correct)
He held a higher salary out for. ❌ (Incorrect)