How to Use holdout in a Sentence

holdout

1 of 2 noun
  • He says he might be a holdout at the start of the next season if the team doesn't agree to pay him more.
  • He is expected to end his three-week holdout and join the team tomorrow.
  • A few holdouts still use typewriters, but nearly everybody uses computers now.
  • The holdouts may come from a few schools of thought.
    — Isabella Volmert, Fortune, 26 Oct. 2025
  • So what changed to get those more than a dozen holdouts on board?
    — Allison Pecorin, ABC News, 22 May 2025
  • And that was one of the holdouts at the end, and what took so long in the strike.
    — Gene Maddaus, Variety, 11 Mar. 2026
  • And the wealthy are a major holdout.
    — Michael Waters, The Atlantic, 9 Sep. 2025
  • The holdouts won on appeal last year.
    — Rebecca Liebson, Sun Sentinel, 11 Aug. 2025
  • Vice-chair Sean Smith was the lone holdout.
    — Ilana Arougheti, Kansas City Star, 4 Mar. 2026
  • At least this year there won’t be any holdout drama for the Bears.
    — Chicago Tribune Staff, chicagotribune.com, 14 June 2019
  • And the last holdout, Missouri, is just about to join the rest.
    — Maia Szalavitz, Wired, 11 Aug. 2021
  • Stunned that Michael, of all people, was the one holdout among the judges.
    — Charlie Mason, TVLine, 24 Feb. 2025
  • The largest group of holdouts, of course, are folks 65 and older.
    — Andrew Van Dam, Anchorage Daily News, 23 June 2023
  • Big star holdouts like Bruce Springsteen joined in.
    — Tom Freston, Vulture, 28 Oct. 2025
  • Carter was the lone holdout amid the push for in-person campaigning.
    — Washington Post, 5 June 2021
  • Tahoe's last holdout is about to pass new rules on Airbnb, Vrbo rentals.
    — Taylor Kate Brown, San Francisco Chronicle, 23 Mar. 2021
  • The holdout juror would not change their mind, according to court records.
    — Sean Emery, Oc Register, 4 Dec. 2025
  • The number of holdouts are dwindling.
    — CBS News, 27 Mar. 2026
  • Johnson said there are a several ideas on the table for how to sway the holdouts.
    — Lauren Peller, ABC News, 9 Apr. 2025
  • Still, there are six holdouts that haven’t budged a penny, while four others lowered their price.
    — Alexander Coolidge, Cincinnati Enquirer, 3 Oct. 2025
  • The results show Jordan still has a lot of work to do to persuade holdouts.
    — Elizabeth Robinson, NBC News, 18 Oct. 2023
  • And that seemed to make the business side and the holdout a little more difficult.
    — Lori Nickel, Journal Sentinel, 9 Feb. 2023
  • But the holdouts seem to be slowly losing ground in the public debate.
    — Alexandra Desanctis, National Review, 19 Dec. 2019
  • There's also Melvin Gordon, who missed the first four weeks as a holdout.
    — Matt Goul, cleveland, 5 Feb. 2020
  • The lone holdout — a Democrat — says the others caved to the pressure.
    — Washington Post, 29 June 2021
  • The point of these, as Katie discussed, was largely to convince holdouts.
    — Tax Notes Staff, Forbes.com, 3 June 2025
  • Residents, aided by the state, mostly moved away, though there were some holdouts.
    — Phaedra Trethan, USA Today, 20 Oct. 2025
  • Mars, however, was a holdout as of mid-July.
    — Addy Bink, The Hill, 14 Aug. 2025
  • The problem for Biden is that there’s no way to turn the spotlight away from the two holdout Democrats.
    — David Lauter, Los Angeles Times, 14 Jan. 2022
  • Some close to Biden say the only holdout to the broader pact is Netanyahu.
    — Massimo Calabresi / Washington, TIME, 4 June 2024

hold out

2 of 2 verb
  • The old man held out his open hand.
    — Literary Hub, 9 Dec. 2025
  • He was held out of the third-place game.
    — Ishmael Johnson, Dallas Morning News, 2 Jan. 2026
  • Eyes were rolled, arms were held out and gloves were launched.
    — Beren Cross, The Athletic, 8 Jan. 2025
  • Val held out her hand for the pencil.
    — Literary Hub, 11 May 2026
  • Now stretch your arm out in front of you and hold out your thumb.
    — WIRED, 11 Oct. 2022
  • Pittsburgh held out the hope of jobs.
    — Equal Justice Initiative, USA Today, 6 Nov. 2025
  • Julie asks, holding out a phone.
    — Carly Tagen-Dye, PEOPLE, 3 June 2026
  • Still, her husband held out hope.
    — Ashley Vega, PEOPLE, 21 Sep. 2025
  • The two held out hope up until half-time.
    — Juliana Kim, NPR, 26 June 2026
  • Play a lot of video games and hike and ski as long as my body holds out.
    — Josh Hammer, Newsweek, 19 Mar. 2025
  • Davis, meanwhile, held out hope.
    — Dac Collins, Outdoor Life, 1 Oct. 2025
  • But the actor had held out hope that his name would be cleared.
    — Erin Nolan, New York Times, 18 Dec. 2023
  • No matter how many shows you guys do, his voice just holds out.
    — Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 24 May 2026
  • But some Democrats are holding out hope.
    — Julia Terruso, Time, 8 June 2026
  • But the mom-to-be thinks for a moment, then holds out her hand.
    — Kimberly Roots, TVLine, 4 May 2025
  • My hand, this part of my life, held out for someone to take in their own.
    — Literary Hub, 29 Apr. 2026
  • Fans will have to hold out a little longer to find out which nuggets reign supreme.
    — Mary Honkus, PEOPLE.com, 28 Aug. 2020
  • If there is a ceasefire, some kind of pause, how long can the army hold out?
    — Simon Shuster/kyiv, TIME, 25 Mar. 2025
  • Durie held out a bottle of rum and urged Holt to take a swig.
    — Eric Jay Dolin, Smithsonian Magazine, 6 May 2024
  • The Afghans’ job was now to hold out for a few months and then die in place.
    — George Packer, The Atlantic, 31 Jan. 2022
  • Some physicists hold out hope that the dead ends do somehow go away.
    — Charlie Wood, Wired News, 20 July 2025
  • But the couple weren’t sure how long their money would hold out.
    — Mirzahussain Sadid, ProPublica, 5 Apr. 2022
  • But don’t hold out hopes for a quick fix with a gas tax holiday.
    — Robert Rapier, Forbes, 21 June 2022
  • Here’s hoping the good weather holds out for at least a few more weeks.
    — Jess Fleming, Twin Cities, 16 Oct. 2025
  • Hoon held out his hands, breathing into them, and told me to do the same.
    — Bryan Washington, The New Yorker, 23 Mar. 2025
  • Both will now have to hold out hope for change in order to have any fall season.
    — Scott Springer, The Enquirer, 30 July 2020
  • In the meeting, hold out two hands, palms up, take a deep breath and exhale.
    — Expert Panel®, Forbes, 30 Aug. 2021
  • Cabrera held out hope Hampton would one day talk more.
    — Graham Womack updated January 15, Sacbee.com, 16 Jan. 2026
  • Judge is not too happy about being held out of the outfield.
    — Aaliyan Mohammed, MSNBC Newsweek, 25 Aug. 2025
  • But for those who hold out in the field, there are several upsides.
    — Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 7 Oct. 2025

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

Last Updated: