hold the fort

idiom responsibility

The phrase "hold the fort" originates from a military command and is now commonly used in informal contexts to describe taking temporary responsibility.

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Definition

B2General

(informal)To take responsibility for a situation temporarily while the usual person is absent.

Example

Can you hold the fort while I run to the store?
I'll be out of the office for an hour, so please hold the fort until I get back.

B2General

(informal)To maintain the current state of affairs in someone's absence.

Example

While the manager is on vacation, the assistant manager will hold the fort.
She asked her team to hold the fort while she attended the meeting.

Similar

Terms that have similar or relatively close meanings to "hold the fort":

hold with hold in hold over hold the stage hold to mind the store stand sentinel hold together hold tight stand one's ground hold onto hold off stand fast hold down hole up hold it hold the phone hold onto your hat hold on hold it in hold one's fire hang tight hold good hold out keep house hold one's piss hold it down hold fire take hold stand by stand pat hold one's water keep vigil hold one's pee