hold on vs deny

hold on and deny both are verbs.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
hold on	No	No	Yes	No
deny	No	No	Yes	No

As verbs, deny is a hyponym of hold on; that is, deny is a word with a more specific, narrower meaning than hold on:

hold on (verb)	deny (verb)
be persistent, refuse to stop	declare untrue; contradict
stop and wait, as if awaiting further instructions or developments	refuse to accept or believe
hold the phone line open	refuse to recognize or acknowledge
hold firmly	deny formally (an allegation of fact by the opposing party) in a legal suit
retain possession of	refuse to let have
	refuse to grant, as of a petition or request
	deny oneself (something); restrain, especially from indulging in some pleasure