holding pattern
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Delaying or putting something on hold until a decision can be made
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
hoãn hoặc延 trì cho đến khi quyết định được đưa ra
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: an airplane circling in a fixed pattern
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
The project is in a holding pattern until we get further funding
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “holding pattern” mean?
Delaying or putting something on hold until a decision can be made Literally: an airplane circling in a fixed pattern
Is “holding pattern” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.