Withhold \With*hold"\, v. t. [imp. Withheld; p. p. Withheld, Obs. or Archaic Withholden; p. pr. & vb. n. Withholding.]

[With again, against, back + hold.]

1. To hold back; to restrain; to keep from action.

Withhold, O sovereign prince, your hasty hand From knitting league with him. --Spenser.

2. To retain; to keep back; not to grant; as, to withhold assent to a proposition.

Forbid who will, none shall from me withhold Longer thy offered good. --Milton.

3. To keep; to maintain; to retain. [Obs.]

To withhold it the more easily in heart. --Chaucer.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)