Wiktionary
vb. (context idiomatic English) To withstand scrutiny or criticism; to be valid.
WordNet
Usage examples of "hold water".
It informed Harms that Anselm's argument did not hold water, and presented him with page after page of analysis as to why.
But dealing with her was like trying to hold water in one's fist: the open hand, he told himself, was the only way.
So closely woven was it that, as I was to learn later, it would hold water and of such great strength that it was almost impossible to tear it.
Whether the skin would need tanning first, or whether it would hold water now.
And we are going to need all the help we can get, if we are to get out of this with a skin that will hold water.
There was a long trough that conveyed the water, and on each side were depressions which may have been hollowed for the reception of round vessels of different sizes, intended to hold water for household use.
Over each flame was the opening of a tube which could hold water as a fountain.