uphold

name

1. A surname.

verb

Etymology: From Middle English upholden, equivalent to up- + hold. Compare Dutch ophouden (“to stop, cease, hold up”), German aufhalten (“to stop, halt, detain”). Compare also Middle Low German upholt, Old Norse upphald (“uphold, support”).

1. To hold up; to lift on high; to elevate.

   “The mournful train/ Echoed her grief, [...]/ With groans, and hands upheld, to move his mind, /Besought his pity to their helpless kind”

2. To keep erect; to support; to sustain; to keep from falling

   “A man's pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit.”

   “That misbegotten devil, Falconbridge, /In spite of spite, alone upholds the day.”

3. To support by approval or encouragement; to vindicate; to confirm (something which has been questioned)

   “let any moral come along and she would uphold it”

   “but there was still a connexion upheld among the different ideas, which succeeded each other.”