holdup
Americannoun
-
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:
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
“He didn’t know what the holdup was in getting back to them on which university could be sued.”
From Salon ● Dec. 13, 2025
“People were kind of saying, ‘Ashley, what’s the holdup?’
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2025
Deliveries are also delayed due to a holdup in supplies of General Electric's F-404 engines for the jets.
From BBC ● Mar. 3, 2025
The student held the phone out as Boobie, shaking with laughter, yelled from across the room, “What’s the deal, what’s the holdup on cornin’ to the house?”
From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger
For weeks, McClain texted excuses about wire delays and holdups with other investors.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 7, 2026
But he also acknowledged such holdups arise because new wind and solar farms will need more transmission lines to carry their output.
From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2025
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
However, she adds, no serious holdups are expected.
From BBC ● Nov. 22, 2023
The holdups, the changes, the digressions and snags and refinements were all excuses, all part of a big, beautiful, exquisitely reasonable facade built up to obscure the real truth.
From Martyr by Nourse, Alan Edward
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.
