Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Holt

Holt , third person singular present

third person singular present of Hold, contr. from holdeth. [Obsolete] — Chaucer

Holt , noun

[Anglo-Saxon holt; akin to LG. holt, Dutch hout, German holz. Icelandic holt; cf Gael. & Ir. coill wood, Greek {not transcribed} branch, shoot.]

1.
A piece of woodland; especially, a woody hill.
Every holt and heath. — Chaucer
She sent her voice though all the holt Before her, and the park. — Tennyson
2.
A deep hole in a river where there is protection for fish; also, a cover, a hole, or hiding place.
The fox has gone to holt. — C. Kingsley