:a course flown by an aircraft while waiting for permission to land等待航线
Our plane was in a holding pattern for almost an hour because of the fog.因为有雾，我们的飞机在等待航线上飞了近一个小时才着陆。
— sometimes used figuratively有时用作比喻
The company has put production in a holding pattern [=has temporarily stopped production] while better testing methods are developed.这家公司暂停了生产，以待开发出更好的测试方法。