placeholder

noun

place·hold·er ˈplās-ˌhōl-dər

plural placeholders

: a person or thing that occupies the position or place of another person or thing

The bill would empower the governor to appoint a placeholder to a vacant U.S. Senate seat, to serve through the next general election cycle.—

John Sharp

The result was that the legislation represented little more than a placeholder to put the budget before a conference committee …—

Carl Ingram

: a symbol in a mathematical or logical expression that may be replaced by the name of any element of a set

American football : a player who places and holds the ball upright on the ground for placekicking of a field goal

Examples of placeholder in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

The Baltimore County Council cannot simply select a placeholder for our next executive. —

Tom Quirk, Baltimore Sun, 23 Dec. 2024 The 49ers signed Campbell to a one-year deal in March as a placeholder for Greenlaw, who tore his left Achilles tendon during the Super Bowl. —

David K. Li, NBC News, 13 Dec. 2024 Washington spikes placeholder name, becomes the Commanders On Monday, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Commanders Managing Partner Josh Harris met with Hill leaders on the stadium proposal and among other matters, a league source and Commanders team source confirmed to ABC News. —

Benjamin Siegel, ABC News, 3 Dec. 2024 The system also includes controls, like placeholders for key information that officers must edit, ensuring that no critical details are missed. —

Barbara Booth, CNBC, 26 Nov. 2024 See all Example Sentences for placeholder