withhold
/wɪθˈhoʊld/verb, noun
withhold is spelled W-I-T-H-H-O-L-D. The wrong spelling people search most is withold: about 140 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 3 in 10 of all searches for the word. Withhold is a verb meaning “To keep (a physical object that one has obtained) to oneself rather than giving it back to its owner”.
How many letters and syllables are in withhold?
| Letters | 8: W-I-T-H-H-O-L-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.9 times per million words; the 20,101st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, withold, about 140 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell withhold?
Withhold is spelled W-I-T-H-H-O-L-D. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 3 in 10 of the searches for withhold in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is withhold?
Withhold appears 1.9 times per million words in written English, the 20,101st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce withhold?
- UK /wɪθˈhəʊld/
- UK /wɪðˈhəʊld/
- US /wɪθˈhoʊld/
Withhold has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-withhold.ogg, En-au-withhold.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with withhold?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as withhold from its last stressed vowel (/oʊld/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of withhold
- withholds present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- withholding participle, present
- withheld past, participle
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does withhold mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To keep (a physical object that one has obtained) to oneself rather than giving it back to its owner.
The bank withheld her credit card.
- 2
To keep (information, assent, etc.) to oneself rather than revealing it.
withhold vital information
- 3
To stay back, to refrain.
I’ll withhold from asking about it.
noun
- 1
An immoral action or condition (an overt) that has not been disclosed to others; the consciousness of such an action or condition.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Withhold in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | zurückhalten, einbehalten , vorenthalten |
| Portuguese | reter , privar |
| Spanish | retener, negar , rehusar, reservar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does withhold come from?
From Middle English withholden. Equivalent to with- + hold.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).