hold court | Idiomator

Meaning: (of akingor other high-rankingaristocrat)Topresidein aformalmanner over anofficialassembly ofcourtiersand others in whichentertainmentis presented oraffairs of stateare considered.1919,Edgar Rice Burroughs, chapter 19, inTarzan the Untamed:[T]his was one of the anterooms off the main throneroom in which the king was accustomed tohold courtwith his entire retinue.; (law,of ajudgeor equivalent official)Toconveneor preside over atrialor otherlegalproceedingin acourt of law.1906,Andy Adams, “Rangering”, inCattle Brands: A Collection of Western Camp-Fire Stories:Beanheld courtin an outhouse, the prisoner seated on a bale of flint hides. Bean was not only judge but prosecutor, as well as counsel for the defense.1994August 14, Michael Janofsky, “Simpson Trial's Allure Puts State Politicians on the Spot”, inNew York Times, retrieved30 May 2013:California's Acting Secretary of State . . . asked the judge in the case not tohold courton Election Day, Nov. 8, and the day before.; (idiomatic,by extension)To serve as theprincipaldiscussantor center of attention in aninformalgatheringoffriends,associates, etc.1912,E. Phillips Oppenheim, chapter 3, inPeter Ruff and the Double Four:She was the centre of a very brilliant group, a most beautiful womanholding court, as was only right and proper, among her admirers.2012April 18,Anthony Bourdain, “José Andrés: Activist”, inTime:Suddenly I heard a familiar laugh, headed down to the bar and found José Andrésholding courtwith journalists on behalf of a solar-powered cookstove that cheaply boils water for people with little or no access to fuel.2013April 1, Douglas Martin, “Ralph Klein, 70, Politician in Alberta Oil Boom, Dies”, inNew York Times, retrieved30 May 2013:With a rumpled, folksy manner, heheld courtfor years in the smoke-filled beer hall of the King Louis Hotel in Calgary.

Examples:

EN: We hold court today?
ES: ¿Hay juicio hoy?
EN: I'll have to hold court bald-headed. -Bald-headed?
ES: Tengo que celebrar el juicio calvo.
EN: - Now get out and announce that his majesty is about to hold court.
ES: - Ahora sal y anuncia que su majestad está a punto de celebrar un juicio.
EN: Might as well hold court out here where it don't smell so bad.
ES: Ya que estamos, podemos constituir la sala aquí, que no huele tan mal.
ES: Tengo un poco de tiempo, Joe, y hay una acusación contra ti.
EN: And any time she wants to hold court you'll be there.
ES: Y cada vez que ella quiere celebrar la corte allí estarán ustedes.
EN: This federal court has been granted the permission... to sit wherever and whenever it wants... and we've decided to hold court here in your home... to avoid a mob riot in a public hearing.
ES: Este tribunal federal ha recibido el permiso... de sentarse dónde y cuándo quiera... y hemos decidido establecerlo en su hogar... para evitar disturbios en un juicio público.
EN: I can hold court in some noisy bar and criticize writing and talk about writing and --
ES: ¿Para qué pasarme años escribiendo? Puedo sentar cátedra en los bares criticando a los que escriben y hablando de literatura.
EN: We have to hold court.
ES: Tenemos que celebrar un juicio.
EN: It seems you hold court here.
ES: Parece ser que es aquí donde montan su tribunal.
EN: I hold court here, no one else!
ES: Maldita sea ...
EN: All right. Then we're gonna hold court right here.
ES: De acuerdo, entonces celebraremos el juicio aquí mismo.
EN: NARRATOR: Every once in a while Wajid Ali Shah would also hold court.
ES: De vez en cuando Wajid Ali Shah celebraba eventos en la corte.
EN: Where do they hold court?
ES: ¿Dónde celebran las vistas?
EN: I hold court this afternoon.
ES: Tengo sesión hoy en la tarde.
EN: Come, here too I hold court
ES: Ven aquí que te presente

Note: the examples for non latin scripts have a high likelihood of mistakes, we do not own any of this data and it is sourced from Wiktionary, the NLLB database and Opensubtitles. Please help us improve this by contributing correct examples. We will be working to fix this issue over time however it is a bigger issue due to the the difficulties in dealing with non latin scripts and grammatical structures(non-romantic/european languages have lower resources as well ).