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holding pattern

hold·ing pat·tern
H h

Transcription

    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [hohl-ding pat-ern]
    • /ˈhoʊl dɪŋ ˈpæt ərn/
    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [hohl-ding pat-ern]
    • /ˈhoʊl dɪŋ ˈpæt ərn/

Definitions of holding pattern words

  • noun holding pattern a traffic pattern for aircraft at a specified location (holding point) where they are ordered to remain until permitted to land or proceed. 1
  • noun holding pattern a state or period in which no progress or change is made or planned. 1
  • countable noun holding pattern If an aircraft is put in a holding pattern, it is instructed to continue flying while waiting for permission to land. 0
  • countable noun holding pattern If something or someone is in a holding pattern, they remain in the same state or continue to do the same thing while waiting for something to happen. 0
  • noun holding pattern the oval or circular path of an aircraft flying around an airport awaiting permission to land 0
  • noun holding pattern the course an airplane takes while circling an airport waiting for clearance to land 0
See all 7 definitions of holding pattern

Information block about the term

Origin of holding pattern

First appearance:

before 1950
One of the 5% newest English words
First recorded in 1950-55

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Holding pattern

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Full grammatical hierarchy of Holding pattern

holding pattern popularity

A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 31% of English native speakers know the meaning and use word.
According to our data about 69% of words is more used. This is a rare but used term. It occurs in the pages of specialized literature and in the speech of educated people.

holding pattern usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Synonyms for holding pattern

noun holding pattern

  • limbo — (often initial capital letter) Roman Catholic Theology. a region on the border of hell or heaven, serving as the abode after death of unbaptized infants (limbo of infants) and of the righteous who died before the coming of Christ (limbo of the fathers or limbo of the patriarchs)
Just one Synonym for holding pattern

See also

Matching words

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