What does hold on mean. How would you substitute it. It's from the sentence Leave hope It's the only thing they have to hold on to. How will the meaning change if we stop after have?

Answer 1

To 'hold on' or 'hold on to' means:

• to grasp or maintain your grip on something: When riding a horse it is important to hold on to (grasp) the reins!

• to endure or wait. e.g. Frantic voice on telephone "Can you hold on a minute, I'm just getting something to write your message on."

With these meanings in our mind, now compare the sentences in the question. i.e.

(1) "... hope. It's the only thing they have to hold on to."

This means they have nothing to help them except for their hope, something they can think about, to help them endure their present dilemma until things get better.

(2) "... hope. It's the only thing they have."

This means they only have hope. It doesn't tell us that 'hope' is something that can be grasped, something which can be held in the mind as an incentive for maintaining endurance.

Hope can be lost if we fail to grip it, to grasp it. If we lose all hope of succeeding, if we believe all our efforts will fail to achieve satisfactory results, we will stop trying.

SO DO THE TWO SENTENCES MEAN DIFFERENT THINGS?

In the second sentence, the phrase 'to hold on to', although not stated, is actually implied in the context. So both sentences basically mean the same thing.