Word.ws English Dictionary

holding the floor

holding the floor is the present participle and gerund of hold the floor.

Meaning of hold the floor

Verb

hold the floor (third-person singular simple present holds the floor, present participle holding the floor, simple past and past participle held the floor)

  1. (idiomatic) To give a speech at a gathering of people, particularly one that lasts for a long time and is the focus of attention in the room.
    • ... floor of the Senate under which it is possible for a Senator to take the floor, and then an understanding be reached that he will hold the floor over the night recess and have the floor at the beginning of the next day's session.1945, United States. Congress, Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the ... Congress, page 8124

Questions about holding the floor

What is holding the floor the present participle and gerund of?
Holding the floor is the present participle and gerund of hold the floor.

Words near holding the floor in the dictionary

  1. holding that thought
  2. holding the aces
  3. holding the ball
  4. holding the book
  5. holding the cards
  6. holding the floor
  7. holding the line
  8. holding the phone
  9. holding the purse strings
  10. holding the reins
  11. holding the ring

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: holding the floor (page history and authors); hold the floor (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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