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hold·ing (hōldĭng)
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n.
1.
a. Land rented or leased from another.
b. often holdings Legally owned property, such as land, capital, or stocks.
2. holdings The collection of books and other reading materials at a library.
3. Law The part of a court opinion that announces how the law is being applied to the particular facts of the case and that may establish precedent for future similar cases.
4. Sports Illegal use of the arms, hands, body, or playing stick to obstruct the movements of an opponent.
adj.
1. Tending to impede or delay progress: a holding action.
2. Designed for usually short-term storage or retention: a holding tank; a holding cell.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2020 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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