to close within bounds, limit or hold back from movement; "This holds the local until the express passengers change trains"; "About a dozen animals were held inside the stockade"; "The illegal immigrants were held at a detention center"; "The terrorists held the journalists for ransom"
keep under control; keep in check; "suppress a smile"; "Keep your temper"; "keep your cool"
a former instrument of punishment consisting of a heavy timber frame with holes in which the feet (and sometimes the hands) of an offender could be locked
a frame for constraining an animal while it is receiving veterinary attention or while being shod
a frame that supports a boat while it is under construction
make understandable to the general public; "Carl Sagan popularized cosmology in his books"
cater to popular taste to make popular and present to the general public; bring into general or common use; "They popularized coffee in Washington State"; "Relativity Theory was vulgarized by these authors"
ask (for something); "He applied for a leave of absence"; "She applied for college"; "apply for a job"
refer (a word or name) to a person or thing; "He applied this racial slur to me!"
apply oneself to; "Please apply yourself to your homework"
be pertinent or relevant or applicable; "The same laws apply to you!"; "This theory holds for all irrational numbers"; "The same rules go for everyone"
aroused to impatience or anger; "made an irritated gesture"; "feeling nettled from the constant teasing"; "peeved about being left out"; "felt really pissed at her snootiness"; "riled no end by his lies"; "roiled by the delay"
troubled persistently especially with petty annoyances; "harassed working mothers"; "a harried expression"; "her poor pestered father had to endure her constant interruptions"; "the vexed parents of an unruly teenager"