0 something that you own such as shares in a company or buildings, or land that you rent and farm:
To ensure security the investment fund has holdings in many companies.
1 In football, if a midfield player has a holding role, their main job is to help the defence rather than attack an opponent's goal:
Without a holding midfielder, the two centre backs can be left exposed.
2 assets such as property, shares, or cash that a government, company, or person owns:
3 the amount of a company's shares that a person or organization owns:
holding in sth He is considering selling his 28% holding in the company.
increase/raise/build up a holding The Chairman bought a further 80,000 shares, increasing his holding to 20.3%.
reduce/cut a holding The sale is part of a plan by the Dutch state to reduce its holding in the former government-controlled group.
4 used in the names of some holding companies:
TEC Holdings has been in existence since 2007.