Meaning of hold fast | Babel Free

Definitions

1. To stubbornly resist assault, pressure or opposition, either physically or mentally.
   idiomatic
2. 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.

Equivalents

Examples

“And now, while both elastic gunwales were springing in and out, as the whale dallied with the doomed craft in this devilish way; and from his body being submerged beneath the boat, he could not be darted at from the bows, for the bows were almost inside of him, as it were; and while the other boats involuntarily paused, as before a quick crisis impossible to withstand⟳, then it was that monomaniac Ahab, furious with this tantalizing vicinity of his foe, which placed him all alive and helpless in the very jaws he hated; frenzied with all this, he seized the long bone with his naked hands, and wildly strove to wrench it from its gripe. As now he thus vainly strove, the jaw slipped from him; the frail gunwales bent in, collapsed, and snapped, as both jaws, like⟳ an enormous shears, sliding further aft, bit the craft completely in twain, and locked themselves fast again in the sea, midway between the two floating wrecks. These floated aside, the broken ends drooping, the crew at the stern-wreck clinging to the gunwales, and striving to hold⟳ fast to the oars to lash them across.”

“If we take⟳ science as our sole guide⟳, if we accept⟳ and hold⟳ fast that alone which is verifiable, the old theology must go.”

“Hold⟳ fast your dreams! / Within your heart / Keep⟳ one still, secret spot / Where dreams may go, / And, sheltered so, / May thrive and grow⟳ / Where doubt⟳ and fear are not. / O keep⟳ a place⟳ apart, / Within your heart, / For little dreams to go! // Think⟳ still of lovely things that are not true. / Let⟳ wish⟳ and magic work⟳ at will in you. / Be sometimes blind to sorrow. Make⟳ believe⟳! / Forget⟳ the calm that lies / In disillusioned eyes. / Though we all know⟳ that we must die⟳, / Yes you and I / May walk⟳ like⟳ gods and be / Even now at home in immortality. // We see⟳ so many ugly things— / Deceits and wrongs and quarrelings; / We know⟳, alast we know⟳ / How quickly fade⟳ / The color in the west, / The bloom upon the flower, / The bloom upon the breast / And youth's blind hour. / Yet keep⟳ within your heart / A place⟳ apart / Where little dreams may go, / May thrive and grow⟳. / Hold⟳ fast—hold⟳ fast your dreams!”

“Hold⟳ fast to dreams / For if dreams die⟳ / Life is a broken-winged bird / That cannot fly⟳. // Hold⟳ fast to dreams / For when dreams go / Life is a barren field / Frozen with snow⟳.”

“So, my love⟳, I dearly say⟳ to you / Let's hold⟳ on fast to a love⟳ that's really true / The thought of losing you could never be erased / The love⟳ that I once knew could never be replaced”

“Both now and for always, I intend⟳ to hold⟳ fast to my belief in the hidden strength of the human spirit.”

“All hands...hold⟳ fast!”

CEFR level