Definition of "hold back" []

• To act with reserve; to contain one's full measure or power (verb)
• To contain; stop (verb)
• To delay, especially in school (verb)

Wiktionary.org : Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License

• "Sandbag levees had already been built to hold back the waters, and the bones now rested in a layer of thick mud and rotting vegetation, over which a tarpaulin had been stretched to protect them from the elements."
• "Fine, I said, barely managing to hold back what could have been a ten-million-watt grin."
• "The House Financial Services panel alone has held more than a dozen hearings on the law, in part to underscore to administration witnesses that some provisions — like forcing banks to hold back capital as a hedge against losses — will hurt business, according to the committee's chairman, Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala."