Withholds (8)
I believe the answer is:
reserves
<span class="explanation-format__ClueExplanation">'<span class="explanation-format__original">withholds</span>' is the definition.<br/ ><span class="explanation-format__explanation">(reserving is a kind of withholding)</span><br/ ><br/ >This is all the clue.<br/ ></span>
(Other definitions for reserves that I've seen before include "Books" , "Stockpiles" , "group of people for backup?" .)