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

Instead, they were told the $100,000 allocation to the rodeo in their 2024-25 promotional budget was just a placeholder and that Clodfelter had pledged to find the funds elsewhere if CountryFest ever needed the money. —Douglas Hanks, Miami Herald, 17 Oct. 2025

On the internet, such a placeholder for nothing will, over a period of time — and in the instance of this meme, very little time — become meaningful. —Kevin Dolak, HollywoodReporter, 16 Oct. 2025

The upside is New Orleans quarterback Spencer Rattler, a former fifth-round pick, is nothing more than a placeholder for a rebuilding franchise. —Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 11 Oct. 2025

This approach is very effective, as there is a particular placeholder to address challenges in a dedicated and less emotional setting. —Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 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