holding

Syllables: hold·ing/ˈhəʊldɪŋ/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Australia[ˈhəʉɫdɪŋ]

holding noun: something that one owns, especially stocks and bonds. Also the present participle and gerund of hold.

Noun

holding (plural holdings)

Something that one owns, especially stocks and bonds.
- Although this survey lists only a small number of representative materials in the Hoover Library's Baltic Collection, a comprehensive view of the library's holdings can be gained from the Hoover Institution's card catalog or its printed equivalent1980, Joseph D. Dwyer, Russia, the Soviet Union, and Eastern Europe, page 9
- Italy's right-wing prime minister was about to cure his biggest headache by selling the state's holding in a troubled airline, Alitalia.2009, The Economist, Law and order in Italy: Trouble with figures
A determination of law made by a court.
A tenure; a farm or other estate held of another.
- Take again
  From this my hand, as holding of the Pope
  Your sovereign greatness and authority.c. 1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
(obsolete) Logic; consistency.
- This has no holding,
  To swear by him whom I protest to love
  That I will work against him.c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
A foul consisting of impermissibly restricting the movement of an opposing player with the hands or stick.
(obsolete) The burden or chorus of a song.
- Make battery to our ears with the loud music;
  The while I'll place you; then the boy shall sing.
  The holding every man shall beat as loud
  As his strong sides can volley.c. 1606–1607 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard...
(obsolete, rare) That which holds, binds, or influences; hold; influence; power.
- This is one of the principal holdings of that destructive system, which has endeavoured to unhinge all the virtuous, honourable, and useful connexions in the kingdom.1770, Edmund Burke, Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents, London: J. Dodsley, page 104
(nonstandard) A holding company, or other kind of company.

Proper noun capitalized: Holding

Holding

A surname.

Also used as

holding is also the present participle and gerund of hold.

holding meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam

holding in Tamil

வைத்திருத்தல்

holding in Urdu

ہولڈنگ

holding in Bengali

হোল্ডিং

holding in Malayalam

പിടിച്ചുനിൽക്കൽ

More languagesFewer languages

holding in Kannada: ಹಿಡಿದಿಟ್ಟುಕೊಳ್ಳುವುದು
holding in Gujarati: હોલ્ડિંગ
holding in Nepali: होल्डिङ

Examples of holding in a sentence

Make sure your dog has a collar holding an identification tag.
I've got to get to work now. Why are you holding me up?
I don't think he's holding up his end of the bargain.

All 40 example sentences with holding

Forms of holding

plural	holdings

Plural of holding: holdings

Origin of holding

From hold + -ing. The sense "holding company" is from Russian холдинг (xolding), a pseudo-anglicism derived from an ellipsis of holding company.

Words formed from holding

Phrases with holding

100 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with holding

Questions about holding

What does holding mean?: Holding means something that one owns, especially stocks and bonds.
What is holding in Tamil?: Holding in Tamil is வைத்திருத்தல். See Holding meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is holding?: Holding can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce holding?: Holding is pronounced /ˈhəʊldɪŋ/.
What is the plural of holding?: The plural of holding is holdings.

Words near holding in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: holding (page history and authors); Holding (page history and authors); holding (Tamil, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); holding (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); holding (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); holding (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); holding (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); holding (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); holding (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-holding.ogg.

Cite this entry: “holding.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/holding. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.