hold back

phrasal verb

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hold somebody/something back

to prevent somebody/something from moving forward or crossing something拦阻；阻挡
- The police were unable to hold back the crowd.警察阻拦不住人群。
- The dam was not strong enough to hold back the flood waters.水坝不太坚固，挡不住洪水。
to prevent the progress or development of somebody/something妨碍进展
- Do you think that mixed-ability classes hold back the better students?你认为把能力参差的学生混在一班会妨碍高水平学生进步吗？
- We are determined that nothing should hold back the peace talks.我们决心不让任何事情阻碍和谈。

hold something back

to not tell somebody something they want or need to know不透露（情况）；隐瞒
- to hold back information隐瞒信息
- I think he's holding something back. I'm sure he knows more than he admits.我觉得他有所隐瞒。我肯定他知道的比他承认的要多。
to stop yourself from expressing how you really feel抑制，控制（感情等）；不露声色
- She just managed to hold back her anger.她勉强压住了自己的怒火。
- He bravely held back his tears.他勇敢地没让眼泪流出来。

hold back (from doing something) | hold somebody back (from doing something)

to hesitate or to make somebody hesitate to act or speak（使）犹豫，踌躇
- She held back, not knowing how to break the terrible news.她踌躇着，不知如何说出这一可怕的消息。
- I wanted to tell him the truth, but something held me back.我本想告诉他真实情况，但又开不了口。