holding pattern

劍橋詞典

a route followed by a plane above an airport while it waits to land
等待航線，待命航線
We were kept in a holding pattern for 45 minutes at Heathrow. 我們在希思羅機場附近盤旋了45分鐘。
?in a holding pattern

temporarily unable to act because you are waiting for something to happen or be decided
等待；待命
We're in a holding pattern while we wait for City Council approval . 在市政局批準(zhǔn)之前我們只有等待。 返回 holding pattern