holding pattern

American  

noun

1. a traffic pattern for aircraft at a specified location holding point where they are ordered to remain until permitted to land or proceed.

2. a state or period in which no progress or change is made or planned.

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holding pattern British  

noun

1. the oval or circular path of an aircraft flying around an airport awaiting permission to land

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Etymology

Origin of holding pattern

First recorded in 1950–55

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

holding pattern

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and his seemingly supernatural competence at both city management and marketing, has laid a blueprint for kitchen-table progressives looking to bust out of the Trump-era holding pattern.

From Salon ● Aug. 29, 2026

Fulham are now very much in a Premier League holding pattern.

From BBC ● May 25, 2026

For now, prices are “in a holding pattern, waiting to see if the extra reserves pumped into the market run out before the patience of the warring parties,” he said.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 30, 2026

Treasury yields were little changed as ambiguous signals from the White House about the path forward in the Middle East keep traders in a holding pattern.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 1, 2026

But the room, although dim, isn’t dark enough, so I switch my mind into the holding pattern that passes for attention.

From "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood