Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

holding pattern

 noun
     
Related topics: Air
holding pattern [countable usually singular]
1TTA the path that an aircraft flies along while it is waiting for permission to land
2 a situation in which you cannot act because you are waiting for the result of something
My career is in a holding pattern right now.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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