Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Holding \Hold"ing\, n.
   1. The act or state of sustaining, grasping, or retaining.

   2. A tenure; a farm or other estate held of another.

   3. That which holds, binds, or influences. --Burke.

   4. The burden or chorus of a song. [Obs.] --Shak.

   {Holding note} (Mus.), a note sustained in one part, while
      the other parts move.