holding

---

see also: Holding

---

Pronunciation

• enPR: hōldʹ-ĭng, IPA: /ˈhoːldɪŋ/
  • (AU) IPA: [ˈhəʉɫdɪŋ]
  • (British) IPA: [ˈhəʊɫdɪŋ]
  • (America) IPA: [ˈhoʊɫdɪŋ]

Noun

holding (plural holdings)

1. Something that one owns, especially stocks and bonds.
   • 2009, The Economist, Law and order in Italy: Trouble with figures ↗

     Italy's right-wing prime minister was about to cure his biggest headache by selling the state's holding in a troubled airline, Alitalia.

2. A determination of law made by a court.
3. A tenure; a farm or other estate held of another.
   • 1596, William Shakespeare, The Life and Death of King John, V. i. 3:

     Take again / From this my hand, as holding of the Pope / Your sovereign greatness and authority.

4. (obsolete) That which holds, binds, or influences.
5. (obsolete) Logic; consistency.
   • 1598, William Shakespeare, All's Well That Ends Well, IV. ii. 27:

     This has no holding, / To swear by him whom I protest to love / That I will work against him.

6. (obsolete) The burden or chorus of a song.
   • 1598, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Antony and Cleopatra, II. vii. 109:

     Make battery to our ears with the loud music; / The while I'll place you; then the boy shall sing. / The holding every man shall beat as loud / As his strong sides can volley.

7. (in texts about Russia, nonstandard) A holding company, or other kind of company (by back-translation from Russian холдинг).

Translations

• French: possession
• Italian: possesso
• Russian: владе́ние

Verb

1. present participle of hold#English|hold

   They were caught holding hands in the dark.

---

Holding

---

Proper noun

1. Surname

---

This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.021