holding

/ˈhəʊldɪŋ/

//ˈhəʊldɪŋ// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"holding" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“holding” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #1,368. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#1,368
frequency rank, English
2,646
“H” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Something that one owns, especially stocks and bonds.

Corpus desk

Index EN-holding · holding · English

holding · rank #1,368 · 11 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #1,368
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,646
  • PHOTO-FINISH highly

Nearest frequency peer: highly (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “holding”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “holding” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

holding vs hoping
71% similar
holding vs homing
71% similar
holding vs honing
71% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for holding
PropertyValue
Headwordholding
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈhəʊldɪŋ/
Letters7
Frequency rank#1,368
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “holding”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).holdinglands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “highly” (#1,367), “Japan” (#1,369), “fully” (#1,366). Among 2,646 “H” headwords, “holding” is #1,368. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around holding (IPA /ˈhəʊldɪŋ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #1,368 among 2,646 “H” headwords. Wiktionary lists 8 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for holding, with forms such as "hholding", "hloding", and "hodling". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "hoping", "homing", "honing", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct English form is holding, spelled H-O-L-D-I-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    Something that one owns, especially stocks and bonds.
  2. 2
    A determination of law made by a court.
  3. 3
    A tenure; a farm or other estate held of another.
  4. 4
    Logic; consistency.
  5. 5
    A foul consisting of impermissibly restricting the movement of an opposing player with the hands or stick.
  6. 6
    The burden or chorus of a song.
  7. 7
    That which holds, binds, or influences; hold; influence; power.
  8. 8
    A holding company, or other kind of company (by back-translation from Russian холдинг (xolding)).

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how holding appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Although this survey lists only a small number of representative materials in the Hoover Library's Baltic Collection, a comprehensive view of the library's holdings can be gained from the Hoover Institution's card catalog or its printed equivalent
  2. Italy's right-wing prime minister was about to cure his biggest headache by selling the state's holding in a troubled airline, Alitalia.

This word in other languages

possession(Français)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • hholding
  • hloding
  • hodling
  • holdding
  • holdign
  • holdingg
  • holdinng
  • holdnig
  • holidng
  • hollding
  • ohlding

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of holding - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

hholding1hloding2hodling2holdding1holdign2holdingg1holdinng1holdnig2
Edit distance from "holding"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "holding"?
"holding" is spelled H-O-L-D-I-N-G. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈhəʊldɪŋ/.
What does "holding" mean?
As a noun, "holding" means: Something that one owns, especially stocks and bonds.
What words are commonly confused with "holding"?
"holding" is commonly confused with "hoping", "homing", "honing". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "holding"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "holding" is /ˈhəʊldɪŋ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "holding" come from?
"holding" is a English word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "holding", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

explain#1,365effects#1,364parties#1,373reality#1,375

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

effective11 variantsreports11 variantsrecords11 variantslargest11 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list