holdup
Americannoun
-
holdups
plural
-
a forcible stopping and robbing of a person.
-
a stop or delay in the progress of something.
There was a holdup in the construction of the bridge.
-
an instance of being charged excessively.
Usage
What does holdup mean? A holdup is a delay or something that causes a delay. It’s frequently used in the phrase What’s the holdup?—meaning “What’s the cause of the delay?”Holdup can also refer to a kind of robbery, typically in which the robber takes a person’s money by stopping them and threatening them with a weapon, especially a gun. In this sense, a holdup is also called a stickup. In both cases, the word is sometimes spelled hold-up. The phrase hold up can be used as a verb meaning to delay, to cause a delay, or to rob someone in a holdup. (It also has several other meanings.)Example: I asked him what the holdup was, and he told me that he was waiting for the designer to deliver the images.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of holdup
1830–40, noun use of verb phrase hold up
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:
He used that data to locate Okello Chatrie, then obtained a search warrant of his home where the cash and the holdup notes were found.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 19, 2026
But every year, thousands of refunds are held up, and the IRS isn’t required to process them within a certain period or provide information to taxpayers on what is responsible for the holdup.
From Barron's ● Mar. 28, 2026
One holdup, charging company executives say, is the cars themselves.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 17, 2026
“He didn’t know what the holdup was in getting back to them on which university could be sued.”
From Salon ● Dec. 13, 2025
It was true; half the students in the Hall were now waiting behind them, looking over one another’s shoulders to see what was causing the holdup.
From "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire" by J. K. Rowling
Another country where passengers have reported holdups due to EES is Portugal.
From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026
Earlier this month, a federal grand jury in Boston indicted 10 Indian nationals for allegedly staging convenience-store holdups in Massachusetts and elsewhere to secure U visas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 21, 2026
Those officials blamed most of the holdups on the humanitarian groups for not having enough capacity to get food and medicine in.
From Salon ● Sep. 24, 2024
The biggest holdups will be figuring out their new schedules and not overloading themselves with too many difficult nonconference games.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 20, 2024
The holdups were backing off, burning a lot of powder but doing no harm, and I guessed that their horses were in a bluff about five hundred yards from the track.
From Desert Conquest or, Precious Waters by Clarence H. (Clarence Herbert) Rowe
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.
