The phrase "only hold back" is grammatically correct and commonly used in written English.
It is typically used to express the act of restraining or holding something or someone back in a restrictive or limiting manner. Example: The new policy will only hold back our company's potential for growth.
Value judgments around medication not only hold back research but could cost lives.
"The reality is, everything is growing," he said, "and you can only hold back the water so long".
I only hold back because much was too boggling for my otter-sized mind to take in.
Many of them didn't especially want it to survive, since it could only hold back the acceptance of TV.
Perpetuating the idea that male and female film-making fall into separate categories will only hold back women's progress in Hollywood.
Dams for irrigation, meanwhile, have a doubly damaging impact on fisheries: they not only hold back water, but also encourage the conversion of forest to farmland in the flood-plain.Irrigated rice-farming, which is two or three times more productive than the rain-fed sort, is growing rapidly throughout the basin, albeit from a low base.
Regular inundations from the Quaggy river are only held back by an eight-foot wall.
The 'priced out' generation aren't only held back by slow development rates and a lack of mortgage finance – it's the fact that housing is becoming unaffordable due to rising land values.
Mark Todd, who runs the Energyhelpline switching service, said a price announcement would come "any day now" with companies only held back by a reluctance to be first, fearing reputational damage and a loss of customers.
Mr Charlton also adds that lack of software development is not only holding back growth, but is also hurting Asian firms financially.
But if the Fed is only holding back because the global and domestic economy are weak, how bullish is that, really.
