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
John SharpThe result was that the legislation represented little more than a placeholder to put the budget before a conference committee …—Carl Ingram
Carl Ingram2
: 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
Generic Lamps Standard table lamps have started to feel more like placeholders than design decisions, filling space, but not really contributing to it.
—Angelika Pokovba, Martha Stewart, 3 Apr. 2026
Blanche immediately enters the fray as more than just a temporary placeholder.
—Kaelan Deese, The Washington Examiner, 3 Apr. 2026
The user interface, which previously felt like a placeholder—and a barely functional one at that—has now been given a complete overhaul.
—Adam Ismail, The Drive, 25 Mar. 2026
Let this clip of us giving it our all be a placeholder.
—Glenn Garner, Deadline, 20 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for placeholder
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Angelika Pokovba, Martha Stewart, 3 Apr. 2026
Blanche immediately enters the fray as more than just a temporary placeholder.
—Kaelan Deese, The Washington Examiner, 3 Apr. 2026
The user interface, which previously felt like a placeholder—and a barely functional one at that—has now been given a complete overhaul.
—Adam Ismail, The Drive, 25 Mar. 2026
Let this clip of us giving it our all be a placeholder.
—Glenn Garner, Deadline, 20 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for placeholder
Cite this Entry
“Placeholder.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/placeholder. Accessed 8 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
placeholder
noun
place·hold·er
ˈplās-ˌhōl-dər
: a symbol used in mathematics in the place of a numeral not yet known
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