on hold

1. In a state of temporary interruption, but not disconnection, during a telephone call, as in While I was on hold, I checked my calendar for when I could schedule a meeting , or They had to put me on hold while they looked up my account . [c. 1960]

2. In a state of postponement or delay, as in When she was transferred, they had to put their romance on hold . This figurative usage is a broadened sense of def. 1. [ Colloquial ; c. 1970]

Example Sentences

“Jaws,” released in America two years earlier, is still playing in the city of Recife, and the use of the toothy fish as a recurring motif suggests all norms are on hold while sharks rule.

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Manufacturing projects have been put on hold or canceled.

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He was joined by a second district judge in putting the new map on hold and requiring the state to use the 2021 map that had been drawn by the same Texas Republicans.

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Late Friday, Texas attorneys filed an emergency appeal and asked the justices to put on hold the decision by Brown.

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“We still expect the Fed to stay on hold in December, with markets currently pricing around 32% probability of a cut,” Danske Bank analysts said in a note.

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Related Words

• dormant 
• dull 
• idle 
• immobile 
• inoperative 
• jobless 
• passive 
• sedentary 
• sluggish 
• static 
• unemployed 
• unused