placeholder

noun

place·​hold·​er ˈplās-ˌhōl-dər 

plural placeholders

1

: a person or thing that occupies the position or place of another person or thing

The bill would empower the governor to appoint a placeholder to a vacant U.S. Senate seat, to serve through the next general election cycle.

—John Sharp

The result was that the legislation represented little more than a placeholder to put the budget before a conference committee …

—Carl Ingram

2

: a symbol in a mathematical or logical expression that may be replaced by the name of any element of a set

3

American football : a player who places and holds the ball upright on the ground for placekicking of a field goal

Examples of placeholder in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

And while some student loan servicers have specific future return-to-repayment dates noted in borrower accounts, these dates are likely just placeholders. —Adam S. Minsky, Forbes.com, 9 Sep. 2025

The Evolution Plan filed in 2013 included placeholders for four potential new attractions. —Brady MacDonald, Oc Register, 6 Sep. 2025

Feels very placeholder-text, but whatever! —Jessica M. Goldstein, Vulture, 3 Sep. 2025

Beck said that the original specifications of Neutron were more of a placeholder design as the company worked to develop the medium-lift rocket. —Tariq Malik, Space.com, 29 Aug. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1927, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for placeholder

• officeholder
• beholder
• bondholder
• cardholder
• freeholder
• householder
• landholder
• leaseholder
• lienholder
• shareholder
• slaveholder
• smallholder

Kids Definition

placeholder

noun

place·​hold·​er ˈplās-ˌhōl-dər 

: a symbol used in mathematics in the place of a numeral not yet known