holding pattern
1
6.2
- noun
- /ˈhoʊldɪŋ ˈpætərn/
- Specialized
:
circuito de espera
- The incident caused a major disruption, forcing air traffic controllers to put dozens of flights into holding patterns and delaying the departures of dozens more.
Examples
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It seems like he's in a holding pattern above Heathrow and that Boris won't let him land.
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She's on a holding pattern up in New York Bay.
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They had broken the holding pattern at last! and were making their approach.
Fiction book (1999) -
'Incoming traffic's in a holding pattern.'
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After receiving instructions from the tower, the pilot entered a holding pattern to await clearance for landing.
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During busy hours at the airport, many flights may be placed in a holding pattern until runways become available.
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The airline informed passengers that their flight would remain in a holding pattern for several minutes due to weather conditions.
Antonyms
How Complex
Surface Forms
Morphology
The parts 'holding' (keeping or maintaining) and 'pattern' (a repeated arrangement or routine) give a partial clue: a repeated state of maintaining or waiting. However, the specific idiomatic sense of being stuck with no progress (from the aviation term for circling while waiting) is a metaphorical extension that a B1 learner may not fully predict from the constituents alone.
Etymology
Holding pattern comes from the way airplanes fly in circles above an airport while they wait for permission to land, so it literally describes a flight that is 'waiting' to land.