as in lurking
to remain out of sight
we'll hole up in the cellar and wait out the hurricane
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Recent Examples of holing up
Amir and Miri share their memories of holing up in a lightless, airless concrete room with two children under the age of 5, trying desperately to remain quiet.
—
Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 11 Sep. 2025
Now teens were holing up in garages across America in an attempt to create their own versions of the Fab Four.
—Jordan Runtagh, PEOPLE, 10 Sep. 2025
And at the very least, Damour said, kids won’t get a chance to develop the habit of holing up in their bedroom with their phone and never coming out.
—Rheana Murray, The Atlantic, 11 Aug. 2025
Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 11 Sep. 2025
Now teens were holing up in garages across America in an attempt to create their own versions of the Fab Four.
—Jordan Runtagh, PEOPLE, 10 Sep. 2025
And at the very least, Damour said, kids won’t get a chance to develop the habit of holing up in their bedroom with their phone and never coming out.
—Rheana Murray, The Atlantic, 11 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for holing up
Verb
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The hackers also stole information about diplomatic issues, lurking undetected in some systems for months.—
Bloomberg,
Mercury News,
5 Feb. 2026
-
Federal authorities said the man lurking behind the cyclone fence was Routh.—
Claire Heddles,
Miami Herald,
4 Feb. 2026
Verb
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When washed with ethanol, the hydrogel appeared transparent, hiding the image entirely.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
6 Feb. 2026
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Wild forward Nico Sturm has been breaking in his Team Germany skates at a few Minnesota practices, and joked about hiding his on-ice moves from NHL teammates that may be foes in Italy.—
Jess Myers,
Twin Cities,
5 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Images from the scene showed dozens of people lying bloodied on the floor of the Imambargah Khadijatul Kubra mosque in Islamabad's Tarlai suburb, while others were piled into any vehicles available to be transported to local hospitals.—
Sami Yousafzai,
CBS News,
6 Feb. 2026
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Here in February, secluded landscape folds often drop close to freezing overnight even in lower-lying regions.—
Joan Meiners,
AZCentral.com,
6 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Holing up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/holing%20up. Accessed 10 Feb. 2026.
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