COMMON If you put something on hold, you decide not to do it or deal with it until a later time. We'll have to put the project on hold until we get some more money. They had normal family lives which couldn't be put on hold every time she felt ill. Note: You can also just say that something is on hold. A few months later it was announced that the deal was on hold, perhaps permanently. Note: This expression is probably from the term used in the past when someone making a telephone call waited for the operator to connect them.