A holding pattern is circling in the air while waiting to land. Enter a holding pattern.
It is a fixed oval flown at a set height, with aircraft stacked above one another. A holding pattern is also said of anything stuck waiting with nothing being decided.
1nounholding patternCircling in the air while waiting to land.
“They were in a holding pattern over the estuary for forty minutes.”
holding pattern is a manoeuvre.
Practised in Airport & Flying