释义 |
▪ I. holding, vbl. n.|ˈhəʊldɪŋ| [f. hold v.] I. 1. a. The action of hold v., in various senses.
a1225Ancr. R. 176 Þet heo beo euer edmod..mid louh holdunge of hire suluen. 1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 5994 Alle wrang haldyngs of gudes sere. c1440Hylton Scala Perf. (W. de W. 1494) i. lxxi, In the holdyng ne in þe kepyng. c1470Henry Wallace viii. 1640 Thow werray help in haldyn off the rycht. 1545R. Ascham Toxoph. ii. (Arb.) 149 Holdynge must not be longe, for it..putteth a bowe in ieopardy. 1621Lady M. Wroth Urania 451 They would almost in kindnesse hurt, with hard, but kindest holdings. a1774W. Pearce Serm. (1778) IV. 31 This is the unity of the Christian Church, the holding of Christ for the head. 1855Morton Cycl. Agric. I. 848 To obtain a holding, they are twisted round the stakes. b. spec. The tenure or occupation of land.
1420Searchers Verdicts in Surtees Misc. (1888) 16 A tenement of Sir John of Langton Knyght in the haldyng of John Rumby. 1480Caxton Chron. Eng. clxii. 145 That he shold come to parlement for his lande and for his holdynge in walys. 1609Skene Reg. Maj., Stat. Robt. III, 59 To schaw his chartour (or maner of halding to his overlord). 1774T. Jefferson Autobiog. App. Wks. 1859 I. 138 In the earlier ages of the Saxon settlement, feudal holdings were certainly unknown. 1818Cruise Digest (ed. 2) I. 284 Such a holding now operated as a tenancy from year to year. 1875Maine Hist. Inst. iv. 102 That the Irish holdings in ‘rundale’ are not forms of property, but modes of occupation. †c. Consistency. Obs. rare. (Cf. hold together, hold v. 43 b.)
1601Shakes. All's Well iv. ii. 27 This ha's no holding To sweare by him whom I protest to loue That I will worke against him. d. With adverbs: see hold v. IV. holding up (see quot. 1888).
1581Mulcaster Positions xv. (1887) 69 The holding in of the breath. 1606Holland Sueton. 100 The cause of this holding of and delay. 1611Bible Jer. vi. 11, I am weary with holding in. a1680Butler Rem. (1759) I. 78 When..a dull Sentence, and a moral Fable Do more, than all our Holdings⁓forth are able. 1689Evelyn Diary 25 Aug., Londonderry reliev'd after a brave and wonderfull holding out. 1711M. Astell (title) Quaker's Sermon: or a Holding-Forth concerning Barabbas. 1888Lockwood's Dict. Mech. Engin. 178 Holding up, the maintaining of a firm pressure against the heads of rivets while their closing up is being effected, a holding-up hammer being used for the purpose. 1908J. G. Horner Plating & Boiler-making (ed. 2) xii. 214 Holding-up dollies were shown in Figs. 56 and 57... In girder work a rig-up like that shown in Fig. 235 is used. It consists of a heavy holding-up hammer a, on the end of a long elastic handle b. e. Assoc. Football. The obstruction of a player by taking hold of his jersey, etc.
1866Cassell's Illustr. Fam. Paper 17 Mar. 509/2 ‘Holding’ includes the obstruction of a player by the hands, arms, or body without kicking or throwing. 1967Association Football (‘Know the Game’ Series) 33 Should the obstruction take the form of a personal foul, e.g., pushing, holding, charging unfairly or tripping, then the foul is penalised by a direct free kick. 2. That which holds or lays hold; an attachment; a means of laying hold or influencing.
1770Burke Pres. Discont. Wks. 1842 I. 149 This is one of the principal holdings of that destructive system, which has endeavoured to unhinge all the virtuous, honourable, and useful connexions in the kingdom. a1797― Wks. (1842) I. Introd. 21 If I have assisted to loosen the foreign holdings of the citizen, and taught him to look for his protection to the laws of his country. 1806R. Cumberland Mem. (1807) I. 242, I had a holding on Lord Halifax, founded on my father's merits. 1887Mrs. L. Baxter Tuscan Stud. i. i. 40 The block in some manner slipped from the holdings and fell heavily into the river. II. That which is held. 3. a. Land held by legal right, esp. of a superior; a tenement.
1640W. Boswell Let. to Laud 12 June in Ussher Proph. (1687) 5 All evil Contrivances here and in France, and in other Protestant Holdings. a1810Tannahill Poem, When John and me were married Our hading was but sma'. 1856Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) I. i. 89 Capitalists were not allowed to drive the labourers from their holdings. b. Property held, esp. stocks or shares.
1573in Gross Gild Merch. (1890) II. 76 The sayde wardens..shall have for their paynes double holdinges of all the bargaines. 1872H. Spencer Princ. Psychol. (ed. 2) §515 II. 584 Documents representing holdings in foreign government debts. 1891Daily News 28 Apr. 2/7 As the pressing sellers have disposed of their holdings, prices are now sound. c. The cards held by a player.
1929M. C. Work Compl. Contract Bridge iv. 38 With such holdings..the rebid should be made. 1959Listener 10 Dec. 1054/2 The high card holding is weak. †4. An opinion held, a tenet. Obs.
c1449Pecock Repr. i. i. 5 Thre trowingis holdingis or opiniouns. 1450–5― Bk. of Faith i. §2 (1688) 1 To followe the Determynations and the Holdingis of the Churche in mater of Feith. 1851J. Hinton Let. in Miss Hopkins Life v. (1885) 84 A train of thought that has almost revolutionised my holdings. †5. The burden of a song. Obs.
1598Servingman's Comf. C, A song is to be song, the vndersong or holding whereof is, It is merrie in Haul, when Beardes wagges all. 1606Shakes. Ant. & Cl. ii. vii. 117 Then the Boy shall sing. The holding euery man shall beare [printed beate] as loud, As his strong sides can volly. III. 6. attrib. and Comb. a. Of or for holding.
1593Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, v. iv. 4 The Cable broke, the holding-Anchor lost. 1731J. Tull Horse-hoeing Husb. xxii. (1733) 153 This Holding-Screw has a pretty broad Head. 1898Daily News 15 Feb. 8/1 The car with its adjuncts was a marvel of holding capacity. b. holding ground, (a) a bottom in which an anchor will hold, anchorage; also fig.; (b) a site for storing floating timber; holding-note (Mus.), ‘a note sustained in one part while the others are in motion’ (Stainer & Barrett); holding operation, an undertaking which prevents a situation from worsening, but can do little or nothing to improve it; holding paddock Austral. and N.Z., a paddock where sheep or cattle are kept until required (for droving, shearing, etc.); similarly holding pen, yard.
1740Woodroofe in Hanway Trav. (1762) I. iv. lix. 271 There is three fathoms water, and a good *holding ground. 1839Marryat Phant. Ship xxiii, The anchor..dragged, from..bad holding-ground. 1849Grote Greece ii. I. VI. 334 The assembly and the dikastery were Kleon's theatre and holding-ground. 1957Brit. Commonw. Forest Terminol. 2 Holding ground, a boom site for storing timber. 1961F. H. Burgess Dict. Sailing 116 Holding ground, the nature of the bottom and its holding quality for purposes of anchoring.
1774Burney Hist. Mus. (1789) I. v. 58 Euclid tells us..that sounds may be sustained in the same tone which we call a *holding-note.
1962Listener 8 Mar. 400/1 Whether it [sc. a White Paper] will achieve its immediate object of persuading the unions to help the economy over its next stile by holding down labour costs, we must wait and see... As a *holding operation it may win some success. 1972Guardian 9 Sept. 13/8 Mr Jenkins's last-minute scramble to satisfy the TUC..was only a holding operation to keep him sweet with Congress.
1933L. G. D. Acland in Press (Christchurch) 28 Oct. 17/7 *Holding paddock, a small paddock, close to yards, wool⁓shed, or mustering hut, for holding (not feeding) sheep. 1934Bulletin (Sydney) 16 May 38/4 At midday the cattle, mad with thirst, broke out of the holding paddock and vanished in a wild stampede over a high hillcrest into the vast unfenced wilderness of the hills beyond. 1941Coast to Coast 1941 22 Wiggins said some steers had got out of his holding paddocks. 1950N.Z. Jrnl. Agric. Oct. 35 Cattle in a holding paddock before being drafted.
1923Ibid. 20 Mar. 144 The *holding-pens in the shed..should never be too large. 1965J. S. Gunn Terminol. Shearing Industry i. 32 Holding pen, one of the small pens or yards in which sheep are held, usually within the shed, under shelter, while awaiting shearing.
1950N.Z. Jrnl. Agric. Apr. 377/2 For handling large herds [of cows] a crush yard is recommended, with the main *holding yard either in front or at one side. 1959Listener 15 Jan. 115/1 There were some good holding yards where we could put the cattle for the night. c. Aeronaut. Used attrib., of or pertaining to the process of ‘stacking’ aircraft in the air above a landing site before they come down to land.
1948Shell Aviation News No. 116. 19/3 Holding procedures as an integral part of the traffic control system for jet transports should be completely eliminated. 1958Chambers's Techn. Dict. 985/1 Holding pattern, a specified flight track..which an aircraft may be required to maintain about a holding point. Holding point, an identifiable point, such as a radio beacon, in the vicinity of which an aircraft under air traffic control may be instructed to remain. 1969Daily Tel. 14 Nov. 1/7 Stacking over a ‘holding area’ while waiting a turn to land, is not uncommon, especially in poor weather conditions. 1972New Yorker 16 Sept. 26/1 He turned on the plane's radio, in order to hear the traffic controller at the..airport talking to several airliners stacked in a holding pattern overhead.
▸ holding game n. Sport a tactical approach which focuses on playing defensively, esp. in order to maintain a lead; chiefly in to play a holding game.
1951Times Herald (Olean, N.Y.) 14 Feb. 14/7 Siena was forced into playing a *holding game to protect its slim lead. 1967Times 16 Feb. 6/6 A holding game was all that London looked capable of. 2006Mirror (Nexis) 22 Nov. 62 Pre-match promises of all-out attack proved to be no more than tactical bluff with Strachan fielding a midfield geared to play a holding game. ▪ II. holding, ppl. a. [f. as prec. + -ing2.] 1. a. That holds, in various senses (see the verb); retentive; grasping; tenacious.
c1400tr. Secreta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. (E.E.T.S.) 70 Nedys þat he take first a holdynge mete yn þe ground of þe stomake. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 49 He was free and liberall to straungers, and heard and holdyng from his familiers and servauntes. 1681J. Chetham Angler's Vade-m. iv. §13 (1689) 42 It is..the most holding Bait of all other. 1891Field 19 Dec. 957/1 Fetlock deep in holding clay. 1930Daily Express 6 Nov. 16/1 The keen east wind dried up the course, which was inclined to be on the holding side. 1955Times 19 May 4/4 In August last year the going was extremely holding. b. holding company: a trading company which possesses the whole of, or a controlling interest in, the share capital of one or more other companies.
1906Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 18 Jan. 1/5 A bill to prohibit ‘holding companies’ such as have lately effected the merger of various corporations..was introduced in the legislature today. 1912Q. Rev. Jan. 195 The Federal Steel Company, which is technically, like the Steel Corporation of to-day, a holding company. 1928Britain's Industr. Future (Liberal Ind. Inq.) ii. viii. 93 To treat trusts, cartels, combinations, holding companies, and trade associations as inexpedient abnormalities in the economic system. 1928Daily Mail 7 Aug. 18/4 This conservative finance enables the Shell, as a holding company,..to maintain its dividends in times of depression. 1930A. Palmer Company Secretarial Pract. xix. 255 The Act does not specifically define a holding company, but refers to it as a company holding shares, either directly or through a nominee, in a subsidiary company. 1958Times 11 Aug. 11/2 Mrs. Roebling..is director or trustee of more than 16 organizations and president of a holding company. 1972‘E. Lathen’ Murder without Icing (1973) xv. 131 Holland's other assets could take a long time to find. He's got everything wrapped up in holding companies. 2. Farming. Applied to animals ‘held’ or kept for breeding. Also ellipt. as n. = holding pig, etc. [In origin, attrib. use of vbl. n.]
1547Will of R. Meese (Somerset Ho.), My blacke sowe with v holdinge pigges. 1615Markham Eng. Housew. (1660) 177 Holding Swine, which are onely to be preserved in good flesh. 1851Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XII. ii. 348 Pasture, which is grazed by the breeding cattle, or ‘holding stock’. 1853Ibid. XIV. ii. 300 From the high rates of holding lambs, many farmers last season hogged the lambs. 3. holding-down bolt, pin, ring.
1846Patent Jrnl. I. 226/2 On each side of the holding down bolts..an upright pillar is erected. a1877Knight Dict. Mech. II. 1112/2 Holding-down Bolt,..one of twelve or more strong bolts, which are passed from the outside of a steam-vessel through the floor-timbers, sleepers, foundation-plate of the engine, and the bosses on the cylinders, condensers, and side-frames, and are secured by strong nuts. 1892W. W. Greener Breech-Loader 19 Every gun provided with a holding-down bolt. Ibid. 260 Certain accessories.., such as cords, planks, and holding-down pins. 1899–1900Kynoch Jrnl. Dec.–Jan. 29/2 The cones are secured to ships' decks by holding-down rings. 1930Engineering 4 Apr. 440/2 Checking parts for fit and tightening holding-down and other bolts. Hence ˈholdingly adv. rare.
c1375Gloss. in Rel. Antiq. I. 8 Tenaciter, holdynglyche. 1611Cotgr., Tenacement, fastly, cleauingly, holdingly.
▸ Association Football. Of or designating a midfield player who plays in a defensive position just in front of the defence.
1986Times 1 Feb. 27/4 The loss of [Peter] Reid from his position as the ‘holding’ player in midfield has been equally crucial. 1995Northern Echo (Electronic ed.) 26 Apr. If the former England skipper calls time on his glorious career, he is certain to seek a replacement to fill his midfield holding role. 2002Sunday Gleaner (Kingston, Jamaica) 8 Dec. b3/4 The steady Watson Coriolon who operated as a holding midfielder. |