holding (in)

verb

Definition of holding (in)next
present participle of hold (in)
as in hiding

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for holding (in)
  1. hiding
  2. masking
  3. concealing
  4. secreting
  5. obscuring
  6. restricting
  7. limiting
  8. veiling
Verb
  • Some senators fled while others braced themselves inside the Senate chamber as Officer Eugene Goodman tried to reason with the mob, and Senate staffers barricaded themselves in offices, hiding.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 26 Oct. 2026
  • Joseph had spent most of the war hiding in the forest with the Bielski partisan force, a Jewish resistance group.
    — Lauren Collins, New Yorker, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of hiding
Verb
  • The gloom was useful for masking scavenging activities and for concealing one’s identity.
    — Jeff Spry, Space.com, 21 Oct. 2026
  • Traditional methods of dealing with bad odors involve masking them with air fresheners or trapping odor-causing molecules in filters.
    — Maryna Holovnova, New Atlas, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of masking
Verb
  • The gloom was useful for masking scavenging activities and for concealing one’s identity.
    — Jeff Spry, Space.com, 21 Oct. 2026
  • Meier serves drinks to the enemy, while concealing his Jewish identity.
    — Monitor reviewers, Christian Science Monitor, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of concealing
Verb
  • Over time, these rocks are fragmented and broken up into small mineral particles by plant roots forcing open cracks, or lichens secreting chemicals that dissolve rocks to release nutrients.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Specifically, corals grow one to two centimeters per year by secreting layers of calcium carbonate.
    — Doyle Rice, USA Today, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of secreting
Verb
  • In the early ‘80s, the singer was already obscuring his Blackness with makeup (prior to remaking his features with plastic surgery).
    — Carolina A. Miranda, Los Angeles Times, 20 Oct. 2026
  • Digital secondary channels have become the main outlet for liquidating illicit inventories, often obscuring sellers’ origins while reaching millions of buyers worldwide.
    — Arthur Zaczkiewicz, Footwear News, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of obscuring
Verb
  • The league issued memos to its sportsbooks partners and all 30 teams restricting bets that are easy for an individual player to manipulate.
    — Josh Appel, Washington Post, 26 Oct. 2026
  • Social media was reckoned Lula’s Achilles’ Heel, with his own Workers’ Party accusing Meta’s platform Instagram of restricting the reach and sound of its posts, as well as Lula’s profile and visibility on search engines.
    — Rafa Sales Ross, Variety, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of restricting
Verb
  • The plight of the Palestinians continues to resonate with foreign publics, limiting how far pivotal countries such as Saudi Arabia will go in normalizing relations with Israel.
    — Dalia Dassa Kaye, Foreign Affairs, 27 Oct. 2026
  • The legislation includes measures aimed at encouraging housing construction, reducing regulatory barriers, expanding financing options and limiting purchases of single-family homes by large institutional investors.
    — Kate Dore, CFP®, EA,Jessica Dickler,Sarah Agostino,Greg Iacurci,Lorie Konish,Annie Nova,Sharon Epperson,Stephanie Dhue, CNBC, 27 Oct. 2026
Definition of limiting
Verb
  • And one of the things that affected was the veiling issue, the dress code.
    — Ali Vaez, Foreign Affairs, 15 Oct. 2026
  • Iranian authorities continue to enforce compulsory-veiling rules, including through prosecutions, business closures, vehicle impoundments and surveillance.
    — Pegah Banihashemi, Chicago Tribune, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of veiling
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

holding forth
holding (in)
holding off
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Holding (in).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/holding%20%28in%29. Accessed 29 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of shindig

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'

'Za' and 9 Other Words to Help You Win at SCRABBLE
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
different halloween monsters in silhouette
A Monstrous Vocab Quiz Words That Go Bump in the Night
See All