Word.ws English Dictionary

holding patterns

holding patterns is the plural of holding pattern.

Meaning of holding pattern

Noun

holding pattern (plural holding patterns)

  1. A path taken by an aircraft waiting to land.
    • The plane flew in a holding pattern for half an hour because one runway was closed.
  2. (idiomatic) Any failure to advance; useless or unproductive activity.
    • This project is in a holding pattern until all the parts arrive.

Questions about holding patterns

What is holding patterns the plural of?
Holding patterns is the plural of holding pattern.

Words near holding patterns in the dictionary

  1. holding onto
  2. holding out
  3. holding over
  4. holding over someone's head
  5. holding pattern
  6. holding patterns
  7. holding ransom
  8. holding short
  9. holding someone's feet to the fire
  10. holding someone's hand
  11. holding space

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: holding patterns (page history and authors); holding pattern (page history and authors). 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.

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