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

Nevertheless, that placeholder version of the bill was approved overwhelmingly by Democrats. —Kate Wolffe, Sacbee.com, 11 May 2025

Practice squad spots can often be placeholders for players who get pressed onto the active roster because of injuries in the season. —Nick Kosmider, New York Times, 2 May 2025

Reminder: The budget resolution is essentially a placeholder bill to get the ball rolling. —Cate Martel, The Hill, 25 Feb. 2025

All those names are current placeholders of a roster spot but would be in jeopardy if someone gets drafted at their position. —Joe Buscaglia, New York Times, 25 Apr. 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