held over; holding over; holds over
: to continue (as in office) for a prolonged period
2
: to prolong the engagement of
the film was held over another week
Examples of holdover in a Sentence
Noun
He is the only holdover from their last championship team.
This policy is a holdover from the previous administration.
Verb
the golf tournament had to be held over until the line of thunderstorms had passed through
Recent Examples on the Web
Marisa Ingemi, Los Angeles Times, 9 Mar. 2026
Last year, Tavai, who doesn’t fit the physical prototypes a Mike Vrabel defense seeks in the position, was one of the few holdovers to make the roster from the Belichick and Mayo regimes.
—Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 9 Mar. 2026
Julia Black, Vanity Fair, 10 Mar. 2026
The expansion has since been put on an indefinite hold over dispute between the project’s developers.
—Kamal Morgan, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 6 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for holdover
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Noun
No other team has as many Pac-12 holdovers.
—Marisa Ingemi, Los Angeles Times, 9 Mar. 2026
Last year, Tavai, who doesn’t fit the physical prototypes a Mike Vrabel defense seeks in the position, was one of the few holdovers to make the roster from the Belichick and Mayo regimes.
—Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 9 Mar. 2026
Verb
Glasgow brings years of executive experience at companies like Meta and Google and holds over 50 issued or pending patents in areas like search, data mining, and commerce.
—Julia Black, Vanity Fair, 10 Mar. 2026
The expansion has since been put on an indefinite hold over dispute between the project’s developers.
—Kamal Morgan, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 6 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for holdover
Cite this Entry
“Holdover.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/holdover. Accessed 12 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationLegal Definition
hold over
intransitive verb
: to remain in a position or condition
one who holds over in possession of a building after the expiration of a term of years—B. N. Cardozo
B. N. Cardozo
holdover
noun
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