holding pattern

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holding pattern (plural holding patterns)

1. (aviation) A path taken by an aircraft waiting to land.

   The plane flew in a holding pattern for half an hour because one runway was closed.

2. (idiomatic) Any failure to advance; useless or unproductive activity.

   This project is in a holding pattern until all the parts arrive.

   • December 15 2022, Samanth Subramanian, “Dismantling Sellafield: the epic task of shutting down a nuclear site”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     All of Sellafield is in a holding pattern, trying to keep waste safe until it can be consigned to the ultimate strongroom: the geological disposal facility (GDF), bored hundreds of metres into the Earth’s rock, a project that could cost another £53bn.