holding pattern en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (Australia) audio
Meanings
-
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.
-
(idiomatic) Any failure to advance; useless or unproductive activity.
This project is in a holding pattern until all the parts arrive.
All of Sellafield is in a holding pattern, trying to keep waste safe until it can be consigned to the ultimate strongroom: the geological disposal facility (GDF), bored hundreds of metres into the Earth’s rock, a project that could cost another £53bn.
December 15 2022, Samanth Subramanian, “Dismantling Sellafield: the epic task of shutting down a nuclear site”, in The Guardian:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| holding patterns | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Translations (11)
fi pito (olla pidossa) (failure to advance) · nl wachtstand (failure to advance) · cmn 原地踏步 (failure to advance) · hu várakozási útvonal/kör/rendszer (path of aircraft) · fi odotuskierros (path of aircraft) · nl wachtpatroon (path of aircraft) · da venteposition (path of aircraft) · cs vyčkávací obrazec (path of aircraft) · de Warteschleife (path of aircraft) · cmn 等待航線 /等待航线 (path of aircraft) · fi odotuskuvio (path of aircraft)