placeholder

noun

place·​hold·​er ˈplās-ˌhōl-dər 

plural placeholders

1

: 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

2

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

3

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

Vaughn Grissom, despite a lackluster 2024, should be the placeholder at second base until one of the Red Sox's many top infield prospects ascends to the major-league level. —Paul Du Quenoy, Newsweek, 9 Dec. 2024

Officials involved in the transition on homeland security matters did not specify if Trump planned to nominate Vitello in the future or just use him as an immediate placeholder. —Anna Giaritelli, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 6 Dec. 2024

Examples: Include high-quality examples if helpful, using placeholders [in brackets] for complex elements. —Lance Eliot, Forbes, 16 Oct. 2024

The preparation began long before then Pistons partner with StockX sneaker resale brand as jersey patch sponsor Manchester United's Labour conference pitch to regenerate land around 'placeholder' Old Trafford What makes Gabriel Eliasson, hockey's meanest prospect, tick? —New York Times, 25 Sep. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1927, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

placeholder

noun

place·​hold·​er ˈplās-ˌhōl-dər 

: a symbol used in mathematics in the place of a numeral not yet known