holdup

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hold·up

(hōld′ŭp′)

1. An interruption or a delay: What's the holdup? We're in a hurry.

2. An armed robbery.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

hold•up

(ˈhoʊldˌʌp)

n.

1. a robbery of a person at gunpoint.

2. a delay in the progress of something.

3. an instance of being charged excessively.

[1830–40, Amer.]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	holdup - robbery at gunpoint armed robbery, stickup, heist robbery - larceny by threat of violence
	2.	holdup - the act of delaying; inactivity resulting in something being put off until a later time delay disruption, interruption, gap, break - an act of delaying or interrupting the continuity; "it was presented without commercial breaks"; "there was a gap in his account" inactivity - being inactive; being less active demurrage - detention of a ship or freight car or other cargo beyond its scheduled time of departure forbearance - a delay in enforcing rights or claims or privileges; refraining from acting; "his forbearance to reply was alarming" deferment, deferral, postponement - act of putting off to a future time cunctation, procrastination, shillyshally - the act of procrastinating; putting off or delaying or defering an action to a later time lag, slowdown, retardation - the act of slowing down or falling behind dalliance, dawdling, trifling - the deliberate act of delaying and playing instead of working filibuster - (law) a tactic for delaying or obstructing legislation by making long speeches lingering, tarriance - the act of tarrying

holdup

noun

1. The condition or fact of being made late or slow:

delay, detainment, lag, retardation.

2. The act or crime of taking another's property unlawfully and by force:

robbery.

Slang: heist, stickup.

Translations

Überfall

holdup

[ˈhəʊldʌp]

A. N

1. (= robbery) → atraco m (a mano armada), asalto m (a mano armada)
a bank clerk was injured in the holdup → un empleado del banco resultó herido en el atraco or asalto

2. (= stoppage, delay) → demora f, retraso m
no-one explained the reason for the holdup → nadie explicó el motivo de la demora or del retraso

3. (= traffic jam) → embotellamiento m, atasco m
a holdup on the motorway → un embotellamiento or atasco en la autopista

B. CPD holdup man N → atracador m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

References in classic literature ?

Ned stopped short, thinking he was to be the victim of a holdup, but his fears were allayed when he beheld one of the police force of Shopton confronting him.

View in context

Duane, who had done a job of some sort by himself, and made a truce with the powers, brought over Marie, his little French girl, to share with him; but even that did not avail for long, and in the end he had to give up arguing, and take Jurgis out and introduce him to the saloons and "sporting houses" where the big crooks and "holdup men" hung out.

"Hinkydink" or "Bathhouse John," or others of that ilk, were proprietors of the most notorious dives in Chicago, and also the "gray wolves" of the city council, who gave away the streets of the city to the businessmen; and those who patronized their places were the gamblers and prize fighters who set the law at defiance, and the burglars and holdup men who kept the whole city in terror.

"Wide open" gambling and debauchery made the city pleasing to "trade," but burglaries and holdups did not.

View in context

The plan was to run her in the Athasi Stakes at the Curragh on Monday, but she had a very minor holdup, which ruled out that race.

Horse Racing: Nell Gwyn 'should come on for run' 2.50 FRENCH 2,000 GUINEAS 4.25 Leopardstown Derrinstown Stud Irish 1,000 Guineas Trial (Group 3) 1m ATR Card page 57

Holloway confessed to the attempted holdup and the two earlier bank robberies.

"You go, girl!"

An alleged holdup man was killed after he tried to rob an off-duty police officer in Pasig City on Saturday night.

Robber shot dead

ISLAMABAD -- Islamabad police during general holdup impounded four vehicles, 38 motorcycles in different police stations while tinted glasses were removed from 14 vehicles, a spokesman said on Saturday.

Islamabad police impound 38 motorcycles, 4 vehicles in general hold up

ISLAMABAD -- Islamabad police during general holdup shifted two vehicles and 18 motorcycles in different police stations while three tinted glasses were removed from the vehicles, a Police spokesman said on Sunday.

20 vehicles including 18 motorbikes impounded

Difference in the gas holdup between the riser and the downcomer causes a difference in the bulk density of the fluid in these zones, resulting in circulation of fl uid up fl ow in the riser and down fl ow in the downcomer (Chisti and Moo-Young, 1987).

Hydrodynamic modelling of internal loop airlift reactor applying drift-flux model in bubbly flow regime

Shaken by the harrowing experience, the woman waited until March 25th to report the botched holdup to authorities.

Robber faced down. (Exercising the Right)

A holdup man died after a policeman shot him dead in Quezon City early Sunday morning.