holding

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In commercial and property law, property to which one has legal title and of which one is in possession. The term may be used to refer specifically to ownership of stocks or shares of corporations.

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noun

Something, as land and assets, legally possessed. estate, possession (used in plural), property. See law, owned/unowned.

Is a statement of law in a judicial opinion that is necessary to the resolution of the legal problem presented in the case. It is contrasted with a dictum, which is a gratuitous statement of opinion in a decision not necessary to the result in the case (see Obiter Dictum).

— William M. Wiecek

Holding is the process by which the mother's capacity to identify with her infant enables her to provide sensitive physical support, especially when the child is physiologically vulnerable. This provision of ego support is a "form of loving" that provides the basis for the establishment of integrated psychological development.

Donald Winnicott presented his ideas on holding and infant development to the public, and to those directly responsible for infant care (1947), and formulated these in psychoanalytic terms at the 22nd International Psychoanalytic Congress at Edinburgh in his seminal paper "The Theory of the Parent-Infant Relationship" (1960).

Sensitive physical handling by the mother allows the baby to tolerate frustrations such as hunger and discomfort and experience the gradual diminishment of his sense of omnipotence without going to pieces. Holding, at the beginning, is a series of physical acts which include responding to the baby's skin, feeding, and a group of sensory sensitivities built into the whole routine of day to day care. This is continued as necessary ego support throughout childhood and adolescence.

When practicing as a pediatrician during and after World War II, Winnicott addressed many groups, including parents and nursery care workers, about the essential qualities of infant care. In describing the minute details of ordinary breast-feeding, he was able to demonstrate how the "good-enough mother" provides sensitive physical and psychological holding of her baby. She identifies with her infant to know how the child feels and to provide just what it needs. In the holding phase, this fosters the baby's apparent belief that what it wanted, it created. It has then a hopeful sense of itself in the present and over time. Successful holding provides the baby with the feeling of reliability in the world, both internal and external. The average mother provides this reliability almost without thinking; and by small increments of frustration allows her baby to become "disillusioned" and aware that there is a "me" and "not-me" and a world that in fact it cannot control. Successful holding is the mothers handling of her infant through a "mutuality of cross identifications" and leads to an integration of the self.

Winnicott is clear that these processes in infancy are not the same as the pathological mental mechanisms of the disturbed or borderline adult patient, but those infants who have been significantly "let down" (1970) experience unthinkable anxieties and the later possibility of schizoid states. Winnicott also described holding within the analytic relationship and more broadly in casework with adult patients (1960). When the analyst's mind wanders, it can be experienced by the patient as a failure to "hold" the mind.

Although mention is made of the father's role in later phases (1960), Winnicott focuses his attention more on the immediacy of the mother-baby interaction and less on the conditions within the adult couple and family needed to foster a successful holding phase.

Bibliography

Anthony, E., and Benedek, T. (Eds.). (1970). Parenthood: Its psychology and psychopathology. Boston: Little, Brown.

Winnicott, Donald W. (1964). Further thoughts on babies as persons. In his The child, the family and the outside world (p. 85-92). Harmondsworth, Penguin Books. (Original work published 1947) ——. (1960). The theory of parent-infant relationship. The maturational processes and the facilitating environment. London, Hogarth, 1965, p. 17-55.

——. (1970). The mother-infant experience of mutuality. In E. Anthony, T. Benedek (Eds.), Parenthood: Its psychology and psychopathology. Boston: Little, Brown.

—PAUL CAMPBELL

This entry contains information applicable to United States law only.

A comprehensive term applied to the property, whether real, personal, or both, owned by an individual or a business. The legal principle derived from a judicial decision. That part of the written opinion of a court in which the law is specifically applied to the facts of the instant controversy. It is relied upon when courts use the case as an established precedent in a subsequent case.

A holding is distinguishable from dicta, which is language in the opinion relating some observation or example that may be illustrative, but which is not part of the court's judgment in the case.

A dreaming emphasizing holding can have a multitude of meanings. We can hold things as an act of protection, ownership, as an act of control ("holding our breath"), intimacy, or responsibility. So one has to determine which meaning of holding is being expressed in the dream.

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See words rhyming with "holding."

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - beholdning, aktiepost, landejendom, besiddelse, kapitalandel
adj. - holding-, beholdnings-

idioms:

• holding company    holdingselskab
• holding operation    holdingselskab
• holding pattern    tilbageholdelsesplan

Nederlands (Dutch)
bezit, grond in eigendom of pacht, invloed, aandelen, het tegenhouden (sport), houvast

Français (French)
n. - (Fin) avoir, (Agric) exploitation
adj. - d'exploitation

idioms:

• holding company    holding, société de portefeuille
• holding operation    exploitation de holding
• holding pattern    (Aviat) circuit d'attente

Deutsch (German)
n. - Grundbesitz, Gut, Besitz, Anteil
adj. - Holding...

idioms:

• holding company    Holdinggesellschaft
• holding operation    Maßnahme zur Aufrechterhaltung des Status quo
• holding pattern    (aer.) Warteschleife

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - απόθεμα, κλήρος, κτήμα, περιουσία, (οικον.) κατοχή μετοχών

idioms:

• holding company    (οικον.) εταιρία χαρτοφυλακίου
• holding operation    χειρισμός που αποσκοπεί στη διατήρηση του στάτους κβο
• holding pattern    αεροσκάφη σε τροχιά αναμονής για προσγείωση, στασιμότητα (π.χ. χρηματαγοράς)

Italiano (Italian)
possedimenti

idioms:

• holding company    finanziaria
• holding operation    azione di contenimento
• holding pattern    volo d'attesa

Português (Portuguese)
n. - ação (f) de segurar, propriedade (f), participação (f)

idioms:

• holding company    companhia (f) controladora
• holding operation    em compasso de espera
• holding pattern    configuração (f) de espera (Aer.)

Русский (Russian)
держащий, запасный, участок земли, имущество, вклад, склад, задерживание, хранение, управление акционерным капиталом

idioms:

• holding company    холдинговая компания, управляющая акционерным капиталом
• holding operation    действия, предпринятые для сохранения существующего положения
• holding pattern    курс, по которому летит самолет, ожидающий разрешения на посадку

Español (Spanish)
n. - posesión, propiedad, terreno, celebración
adj. - de inversión

idioms:

• holding company    sociedad inversionista, sociedad de cartera o tenedora
• holding operation    operación de contención
• holding pattern    circuito de espera (aviación)

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - hållande, tag, fästanordning, innehav, arrende(gård), (pl.) värdepapper

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
把持, 保持, 支持, 保持的

idioms:

• holding company    控股公司
• holding operation    维持现状的做法, 实施维持现状做法的企业
• holding pattern    等待航线, 徘徊等待状态, 停滞状态

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 把持, 保持, 支援
adj. - 保持的

idioms:

• holding company    控股公司
• holding operation    維持現狀的做法, 實施維持現狀做法的企業
• holding pattern    等待航線, 徘徊等待狀態, 停滯狀態

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 보유자, 토지 보유, 자회사
adj. - 지체 시키는, 단기간의 저장 등을 위한

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - つかむこと, 保持, 借地, ホールディング, 所有地, 持ち株

idioms:

• holding company    持ち株会社
• holding operation    現状維持策
• holding pattern    待機経路, 待機

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) أرض مستأجرة وبخاصه من شخص أعلى مقاما, بصيغه الجمع ممتلكات كالسندات والاسهم, حكم في مسأله قضائيه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮מניות, קרקע, נכסים, אדמה חכורה, חזקה על האדמה, משק קטן‬
adj. - ‮מחזיק‬

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