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holding operation

British  

noun

  1. a plan or procedure devised to prolong the existing situation

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

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See Examples For:

It has all the hallmarks of a holding operation between now and the end of the season, with the hope of getting results to offer hope for next term.

From BBC ● Mar. 27, 2026

The mood around England seems increasingly gripped by a sense of drift, a holding operation with Carsley as the front man while Tuchel strangely waits in the wings before taking charge.

From BBC ● Nov. 13, 2024

He referred to the bailout as a "holding operation."

From Reuters ● May 8, 2011

Rowland once explained to me and my City editor, Melvyn Marckus, why he had chosen to "warehouse" the Lonrho shares with Fayed in what he regarded as a purely holding operation.

From The Guardian ● May 15, 2010

While this holding operation was in progress the main attack was being made on the left.

From The Story of the Great War, Volume IV (of 8) Champagne, Artois, Grodno; Fall of Nish; Caucasus; Mesopotamia; Development of Air Strategy; United States and the War by Francis Trevelyan Miller

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