Idiom
holding pattern
Meaning
Any failure to advance; useless or unproductive activity.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“The project is in a holding pattern right now.”
“The negotiations are stuck in a holding pattern until the lawyers finish reviewing the documents.”
“With funding frozen and no clear direction from leadership, the entire department had lapsed into a holding pattern, marking time until someone made a decision.”
Examples
simple
“The project is in a holding pattern right now.”
contextual
“The negotiations are stuck in a holding pattern until the lawyers finish reviewing the documents.”
complex
“With funding frozen and no clear direction from leadership, the entire department had lapsed into a holding pattern, marking time until someone made a decision.”
Key words
Related idioms
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