holdout

noun

Etymology: Etymology tree English hold outdeverb. English holdout Deverbal from hold out.

1. One who refuses to give consent to an agreement in the hope of an improved offer; one who holds out; one who clings to a cause that has been mostly abandoned.

   “If Facebook chooses to remain a holdout, it will not be as the head of a countercoalition but as a cranky recluse.”

   “One of Otto’s first moves after Viserys’ death is to make the lords and ladies of the Red Keep bend the knee to Aegon. The two holdouts are swiftly carted away by the guards, while the third, Rhaenyra’s faithful Lord Caswell (Paul Hickey), reluctantly kneels.”

2. A device for cheating at card games by covertly holding a card out of play until it is wanted.

   “He is probably working a vest or sleeve hold-out. Some clumsy or audacious sharpers will go so far as to hold out cards in their lap, or stick them in a "bug" under the table.”