holdout
Americannoun
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an act or instance of holding out.
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a person who delays signing a contract in hopes of gaining more favorable terms.
The basketball star was a holdout until they offered more money.
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a person who declines to participate, cooperate, agree, etc..
Aside from one or two holdouts, everyone contributed.
Etymology
Origin of holdout
First recorded in 1890–95; noun use of verb phrase hold out
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.
This lone holdout is clarifying: If one index gatekeeper could keep its standards, the others didn’t have to lower theirs.
From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026
Apple normally prefers to use its own processors wherever possible and has been a notable holdout against the wave of investment in AI infrastructure that has made Nvidia’s the world’s largest company.
From Barron's ● Jun. 9, 2026
Another holdout has been General Motors, the U.S.’s largest automaker by volume.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 3, 2026
AMC is a holdout, moving deeper into genre series, including spinoffs of its major hit “The Walking Dead” and shows based on Anne Rice’s vampire novels.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 2, 2025
Was this farm just a lone holdout against industrial food?
From "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
