holding
Americannoun
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holdings
plural
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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:
Jelly Roll later expanded this rural holding with the addition of an adjacent 18.5-acre parcel that was purchased through the same trust for $500,000 in November 2025.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 9, 2026
Arsenal are overloading the right side of the pitch with their right-back, holding midfielder, number ten, and right winger all providing support for striker Kai Havertz on the ball.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
Traders took a little heart from a dip in oil prices after US President Donald Trump ruled out hitting Iran before the midterm elections, saying Washington was holding "productive discussions" with Tehran.
From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026
But what could be the excuse for holding up money for students?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
“C’mon, let’s go!” he says, holding the door open for me.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
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
I hadn’t realized how emotionally attached I had become to inanimate holdings or to my own sense of financial savvy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2026
I knew I wanted to rebalance our holdings across accounts and reduce the overall risk, but selling investments that had performed well was tougher than I expected.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2026
To protect the Homwood holdings from the Boltons, he had written, but Ser Rodrik had been almost as angry with him as with the bastard.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
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.
