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 newly established colony (especially in the colonization of North America); "the practice of sending convicted criminals to serve on the Plantations was common in the 17th century"
an estate where cash crops are grown on a large scale (especially in tropical areas)
a member of the Union Army during the American Civil War
national; especially in reference to the government of the United States as distinct from that of its member units; "the Federal Bureau of Investigation"; "federal courts"; "the federal highway program"; "federal property"
characterized by or constituting a form of government in which power is divided between one central and several regional authorities; "a federal system like that of the United States"; "federal governments often evolved out of confederations"
of or relating to the central government of a federation; "a federal district is one set aside as the seat of the national government"
one of several parallel layers of material arranged one on top of another (such as a layer of tissue or cells in an organism or a layer of sedimentary rock)
a chess move constituting an inescapable and indefensible attack on the opponent's king
complete victory
place an opponent's king under an attack from which it cannot escape and thus ending the game; "Kasparov checkmated his opponent after only a few moves"
the state of inactivity following an interruption; "the negotiations were in arrest"; "held them in check"; "during the halt he got some lunch"; "the momentary stay enabled him to escape the blow"; "he spent the entire stop in his seat"
the relative position or standing of things or especially persons in a society; "he had the status of a minor"; "the novel attained the status of a classic"; "atheists do not enjoy a favorable position in American life"