What does "hold up" mean?

To delay or cause a delay To cause something to be late or to wait.

How do you use "hold up" in a sentence?

Sorry to hold you up. Traffic held us up. What's holding up the project?

Phrasal Verb BritishAmericanAustralian ★★★★★ Very Common Neutral

Meaning: To delay or cause a delay

耽搁、延误

Retrasar, demorar

遅らせる、足止めする

지연시키다, 늦추다

To cause something to be late or to wait.

使某事延迟或让人等待。

Hacer que algo llegue tarde o que alguien tenga que esperar.

何かを遅らせたり、待たせたりすること。

어떤 일을 늦게 하거나 기다리게 만드는 것.

Base verb: hold

Particle: up

Separable: Yes — the object can go between the verb and particle

Sorry to hold you up.
抱歉耽误你了
Perdona por entretenerte
お待たせしてすみません
기다리게 해서 죄송합니다.
Traffic held us up.
堵车耽误了我们
El tráfico nos retrasó
渋滞で遅れた
교통 체증 때문에 늦었다.
What's holding up the project?
是什么拖延了项目？
¿Qué está retrasando el proyecto?
何がプロジェクトを遅らせているの？
프로젝트를 지연시키는 게 뭐야?

Context: delays, waiting

Tone: apologetic

From physically holding something in place.

Era: Modern

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal