Example: ‘I am a prisoner in a room with three boys aged three, five and fourteen. They seem to be my children. There are two prison warders, a man, a woman.
The man was subservient to the woman who holds the keys and keeps control’ (Carol J). There are five aspects to holding.
To control, as in controlling or holding one’s breath’; to be able to manipulate, kill or do something with what is held; this includes holding on to something for support or protection.
Ownership—this is mine, to share or not.
In touch with, knowing; having a grasp’ of.
Responsibility, left ‘holding the baby’; one’s situation.
Intimacy, taking to oneself, taking hold of oneself, as in masturbation; as in the following example: ‘I was in a large removal van with a woman sac on my lap. I held her breasts with pleasure1 (Tony C).
Idioms: Get hold of; have a hold over someone; hold back; hold in.
[1]A dreaming emphasizing holding can have a multitude of meanings. We can hold things as an act of protection, ownership, as an act of control (“holding our breath”), intimacy, or responsibility. So one has to determine which meaning of holding is being expressed in the dream.
[2]