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Recent Examples of holed up
Nineteen students and two teachers died in the shooting nearly four years ago, with police officers waiting 77 minutes to confront the gunman as he was holed up inside a double classroom with students and teachers.
—
Peter Charalambous, ABC News, 21 Jan. 2026
A lot of it was just that — holed up in a house.
—Josh Crutchmer, Rolling Stone, 28 Dec. 2025
The man, who was not named, holed up for at least three hours inside the house as sheriff’s deputies waited outside for a SWAT team to arrive.
—Sharon Bernstein, Sacbee.com, 22 Dec. 2025
They were holed up there for nearly a month and stayed largely in their room, staff said Thursday, before returning to Sydney where they are accused of killing 15 people at a beachside Hanukkah event.
—Mithil Aggarwal, NBC news, 18 Dec. 2025
Manila — The father and son suspected of carrying out Sunday’s Bondi Beach massacre holed up in a hotel for most of their almost month-long stay in the Philippines in November, rarely left their rooms and dined on fast food, a hotel employee told CNN.
—Jinky Jorgio, CNN Money, 18 Dec. 2025
Churches and volunteers across the city collected and delivered food to families holed up at home.
—Jim Morrill, Charlotte Observer, 11 Dec. 2025
Agnes goes to check in on Nora, who’s struggled with depression for years and has recently holed up in her apartment with no contact.
—Patrick Ryan, USA Today, 4 Dec. 2025
The bullet broke her shoulder, went straight through her vitals, and holed up against her hide on the other side.
—Cheyne Matzenbacher, Outdoor Life, 3 Dec. 2025
Peter Charalambous, ABC News, 21 Jan. 2026
A lot of it was just that — holed up in a house.
—Josh Crutchmer, Rolling Stone, 28 Dec. 2025
The man, who was not named, holed up for at least three hours inside the house as sheriff’s deputies waited outside for a SWAT team to arrive.
—Sharon Bernstein, Sacbee.com, 22 Dec. 2025
They were holed up there for nearly a month and stayed largely in their room, staff said Thursday, before returning to Sydney where they are accused of killing 15 people at a beachside Hanukkah event.
—Mithil Aggarwal, NBC news, 18 Dec. 2025
Manila — The father and son suspected of carrying out Sunday’s Bondi Beach massacre holed up in a hotel for most of their almost month-long stay in the Philippines in November, rarely left their rooms and dined on fast food, a hotel employee told CNN.
—Jinky Jorgio, CNN Money, 18 Dec. 2025
Churches and volunteers across the city collected and delivered food to families holed up at home.
—Jim Morrill, Charlotte Observer, 11 Dec. 2025
Agnes goes to check in on Nora, who’s struggled with depression for years and has recently holed up in her apartment with no contact.
—Patrick Ryan, USA Today, 4 Dec. 2025
The bullet broke her shoulder, went straight through her vitals, and holed up against her hide on the other side.
—Cheyne Matzenbacher, Outdoor Life, 3 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for holed up
lurked
Verb
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The Dodgers have lurked in the higher end of this free-agent market with shorter-term scenarios that carry bigger annual salaries.—
Matt Gelb,
New York Times,
13 Jan. 2026
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Shackleton began collecting interviews and shot evocative B-roll footage of ghostly California freeways and parking lots where the killer may have once lurked.—
Jill Goldsmith,
Deadline,
21 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Holed up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/holed%20up. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.
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