How to Use be/stay holed up in a Sentence

be/stay holed up

phrase
  • If not for a pandemic, Mullen and his team would be holed up at a local hotel to avoid outside distractions.
    — Edgar Thompson, orlandosentinel.com, 4 Sep. 2020
  • As deputies cleared residents from nearby homes, smoke was seen coming out of the apartment where the suspect was believed to be holed up, deputies said.
    — Caleb Lunetta, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 Jan. 2023
  • Deputies surrounded the apartment where the suspect was believed to be holed up, alone and armed, according to the broadcast.
    — oregonlive, 26 July 2023
  • Gunfire could still be heard Saturday evening as security forces tried to contain the last gunmen thought to be holed up on the hotel’s top floor.
    — Omar Faruk, BostonGlobe.com, 20 Aug. 2022
  • Ukrainian officials deny the city has fallen, but its last defenders appeared to be holed up and dwindling in numbers amid a desperate fight.
    — Los Angeles Times, 16 Apr. 2022
  • As restaurants close their doors to dine-in customers and millions of Americans stay holed up at home, food delivery workers are more crucial than ever.
    — Taylor Mooney, CBS News, 10 Apr. 2020
  • For the next few years, every as yet unapprehended criminal was assumed to be holed up with the Bank of Alaska robber.
    — David Reamer, Anchorage Daily News, 29 Aug. 2021
  • Iraqi forces routinely carry out anti-IS operations in the rugged mountainous northern region and the deserts of western Iraq where they are known to be holed up.
    — Star Tribune, 30 July 2021
  • Hotels were already seeing a massive loss of business given the shrinking of the convention; it was learned that a third of those who were still attending would be holed up in Marquette University residence halls.
    — Jr Radcliffe, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 11 Mar. 2019
  • Turkey and Britain — and most of their troops will be holed up in fortified embassy compounds or securing Kabul International Airport, that last major gateway out of the country.
    — Eric Schmitt, New York Times, 2 July 2021

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'be/stay holed up.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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