Holdfast

Any contrivance used to fasten or hold something else, as a catch, a hook, a button, . Hold'ing, n. Act of keeping hold of or retaining. A tenure; a farm held of a superior or manorial proprietor. "Holdings were plentiful, and holders scarce."-Carew. -Hold; influence; power; that which binds, holds, influences, or controls. Hole, n . [A. S. hol , hal; D. and Icel. hol; Ger. höhle; akin to Gr. hoilos , hollow.] A hollow place or cavity in any solid body; a pit; a cavern; a cave; a concavity; an opening in, or through, a solid body; an aperture; an interstice; an excavation; a perforation, and the like; as, a hole in a wall. - A cell; a den; a burrow made by an animal for its habitation, or a natural aperture tenanted by en animal; - hence, by implication, any mean habitation, or narrow, dark lodging. "Thou art content to live within this little hole."-Dryden. -An opening or means of escape; a shift; a subterfuge; as, he found a hole whereby to creep out of the dilemma. -v. n. To go into a hole. -v.a. To cut, dig, or make a hole or holes in; as, to hole a boot for the insertion of pegs or nails. - To chase into a hole, as an animal, or into a pocket, as in billiards. Hol'ibut, n. ( Zool .) Same as HALIBUT, q . v. Hol'idom, n . Same as HALIDOME, q. v.