Definition of holding pattern in US English:
holding pattern
nounˈhōldiNG ˈpadərnˈhoʊldɪŋ ˈpædərn
1The flight path maintained by an aircraft awaiting permission to land.
Example sentencesExamples
- But it was flying at 34,000 feet and turned south into a holding pattern over the island after passing over the airport.
- The crew waited 18 seconds, the approximate gear transit time given by the Dash - 1, before entering a holding pattern at 2,000 feet.
- He planned to stack up all the heavies in a holding pattern to await further approach clearance when visibility increased.
- Outgoing flights were cancelled and incoming flights put on a holding pattern.
- The crew returned to home station and entered a holding pattern to assess their options and compute landing data.
- At that point, thunderstorms forced the plane into a holding pattern.
- I'm going to miss out on the next Melbourne meetup too - if all goes well, when the gang gathers at the Gin Palace I'll be hovering somewhere over Tokyo in a holding pattern.
- After quick trouble shooting, the crew decided to execute a go-around and then enter the holding pattern in order to further analyze the situation.
- We had to go into a holding pattern and await a fighter escort.
- Then after three and a half hours, near the tip of Greenland, radio orders put us in a holding pattern.
- We spent a long time going around in a circle holding pattern waiting for our turn to land.
- Kept in a wide holding pattern after flying in from Honolulu, and while hoping for the storm to abate somewhat, it was later believed that the M - 130's captain thought he was somewhere over the Pacific.
- 1.1 A state or period of no progress or change.
stock markets settled down yesterday into a holding pattern