Guide 189 / 200 5 swaps Formal register
Professional words for “hold”
Five verbs for "hold" by sense.
i · When it mattersTwo lines, no filler
"Hold" stretches across keeping, pausing, and containing. Use "maintain" for conditions; "retain" for records and people; "contain" for boundaries; "carry" for carrying weight; "suspend" for pausing.
ii · The swaps5 ways
- 01Maintain neutral
keep a condition
Maintain the service at 99.95%.
- 02Retain neutral
keep records or people
Retain the original signatories on file.
- 03Contain neutral
keep within bounds
Contain the incident to the shadow environment.
- 04Carry neutral
bear weight or responsibility
The team carries the on-call burden for EMEA.
- 05Suspend neutral
pause something that continues otherwise
Suspend the policy during the merger window.