placeholder

noun

place·​hold·​er ˈplās-ˌhōl-dər How to pronounce placeholder (audio)
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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Dark energy puts scientists in a spin Dark energy is a placeholder name given to whatever force is causing the universe to expand at an accelerating rate. Robert Lea, Space.com, 21 June 2025 Star Wars Year: 1977 Runtime: 2h 5m Director: George Lucas Consider this entry a placeholder for your favorite Star Wars movies, all of which have an exclusive home on Disney+. Brian Tallerico, Vulture, 20 June 2025 Senators have said the $10,000 cap is currently just a placeholder, is not finalized, and is still being negotiated. Mariam Khan, ABC News, 16 June 2025 Absent a new president, five of the school’s 16 academic deans are left as interim placeholders, according to an email from UF journalism professor Hub Brown. Ian Hodgson, The Orlando Sentinel, 4 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for placeholder

Word History

First Known Use

1927, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of placeholder was in 1927

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Placeholder.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/placeholder. Accessed 19 Jul. 2025.

Kids Definition

placeholder

noun
place·​hold·​er ˈplās-ˌhōl-dər How to pronounce placeholder (audio)
: a symbol used in mathematics in the place of a numeral not yet known
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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