# holding vs honing

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### holding
*noun · IPA /ˈhəʊldɪŋ/ · frequency rank #1,368*
Something that one owns, especially stocks and bonds.

### honing
*verb · IPA /ˈhoʊnɪŋ/ · frequency rank #37,493*
present participle and gerund of hone

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/holding-vs-honing