Frank J. Wilstach, comp. A Dictionary of Similes. 1916.

Hold

Hold on like grim death.
—Anonymous

Hold him, like an eagle that has seized an eaglet in his talons.
—Honoré de Balzac

Hold together like burrs.
—William Camden (Remains Concerning Britain)

Holds as tight as a horse-leech.
—Charles Dickens

Holds him fast
As a night-flag round the mast.
—George Meredith

Her arms the master hold,
As on wounds the scarf winds tight.
—George Meredith

Hold like colors of a shell.
—Alfred Tennyson

Taken hold upon me, as the pangs of a woman that travaileth.
—Old Testament

Holds … together as the shell does the egg.
—John. C. Van Dyke