holdup

Often hyphenated.

1. A robbery, especially one in which the robber is armed. Did they ever catch who was behind the hold-up at the gas station? Do you think you would recognize the guy responsible for the holdup? A: "Are you OK? You look awfully pale." B: "I was just the victim of a holdup on my walk home."

2. A delay. What's the hold-up with that order? Is something out of stock? A: "What's the hold-up here?" B: "Looks like there was a car accident not too far ahead and they had to close one of the lanes of the highway." Sorry for the holdup—I had a hard time finding your items in the back.

hold-up play

1. In soccer, a maneuver in which one offensive player maintains possession of the ball so that other offensive players can move up the field. The striker's gonna run a hold-up play while the other attackers move up into the offensive zone. I warned the defense to be ready for a hold-up play like that! Ugh. Luckily, I could tell they were trying to execute a hold-up play, and I was able to get the ball away from their advancing forward.

2. In bridge, a strategy by which one does not win a trick in order to ultimately disrupt their opponents' play. I knew I needed to neutralize their lead, so I did a hold-up play with my ace and let them win the first two tricks. You don't always need win a trick—sometimes, you'll find a hold-up play to be more effective overall. Ha! Even with that hold-up play, you couldn't beat me today, now could ya?