upholdverb [ T ]
uk/ʌpˈhəʊld/us/ʌpˈhoʊld/upheld, upheldC2 to defend or keep a principle or law, or to say that a decision that has already been made, especially a legal one, is correct:
As a police officer you are expected to uphold the law whether you agree with it or not.
Judge Davis upheld the county court's decision.
More examples
- The government has promised to uphold the principles of democracy.
- We will endeavour to uphold the high educational standards which have become associated with this institution.
- The freedom of the press must be upheld.
- A committed socialist, he upheld the rights of the voiceless and the underprivileged.
- The court is said to be upholding its decision.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Backing, supporting & defending
- -backed
- argumentation
- bale
- bale out
- bear
- behind every great/successful man there stands a woman idiom
- buttress
- carry
- countenance
- defensible
- endorse
- espouse
- fight your corner idiom
- speak
- stake
- stand by sb
- stand shoulder to shoulder with sb idiom
- strike
- sympathize
- sympathy
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upholder
noun [ C ] uk/ʌpˈhəʊl.dər/us/ʌpˈhoʊl.dɚ/