- present participle of hold.
holding
Americannoun
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holdings
plural
-
the act of a person or thing that holds.
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a section of land leased or otherwise tenanted, especially for agricultural purposes.
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a company owned by a holding company.
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Often holdings. legally owned property, especially stocks, bonds, or real estate.
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Library Science. holdings, the entire collection of books, periodicals, and other materials in a library.
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Sports. the illegal obstruction of an opponent, as in football, basketball, or ice hockey, by use of the hands, arms, or stick.
noun
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land held under a lease and used for agriculture or similar purposes
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(often plural) property to which the holder has legal title, such as land, stocks, shares, and other investments
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sport the obstruction of an opponent with the hands or arms, esp in boxing
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of holding
First recorded in 1175–1225, holding is from the Middle English word holding. See hold 1, -ing 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
She recalled proudly walking around the playground thinking "I'm holding Nansi's hand today".
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026
The FAI governing body, holding its 120th general conference in Lausanne from Wednesday to Friday, validated the record attempt after verifying the flight data.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026
In a wide-ranging interview before the event, Kim — who was appointed in February after holding an interim presidential role — said he leads USC at a time of promise and deep challenges:
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
The best of them took the time to study policy briefings, meet department heads and the most active beat reporters before holding their first briefing.
From Salon ● Oct. 16, 2026
It was only when he’d got it safely boxed and back in the pouch that he realized he’d been holding his breath.
From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver
“Regarding the Los Angeles Dodgers, to be clear, the team is not being sold,” Walter’s holdings company said in a statement last month.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
A standalone classification could force investment funds tracking the MSCI's emerging market indexes to sell Indonesian holdings.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026
As the New York Times reported last month, even friendly countries are reducing their holdings of U.S.
From Slate ● Oct. 8, 2026
In total, his real estate holdings in the waterfront community are said to be worth upward of $180 million.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 5, 2026
Greenberg, who already owned a similar number of houses in the section, was expanding his holdings to exploit the housing crunch caused by urban renewal.
From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
