PLACEHOLDER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does placeholder mean? 

• PLACEHOLDER (noun)
  The noun PLACEHOLDER has 2 senses:

1. a person authorized to act for another

2. a symbol in a logical or mathematical expression that can be replaced by the name of any member of specified set

  Familiarity information: PLACEHOLDER used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PLACEHOLDER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A person authorized to act for another

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

placeholder; procurator; proxy

Hypernyms ("placeholder" is a kind of...):

agent (a representative who acts on behalf of other persons or organizations)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A symbol in a logical or mathematical expression that can be replaced by the name of any member of specified set

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("placeholder" is a kind of...):

variable (a symbol (like x or y) that is used in mathematical or logical expressions to represent a variable quantity)

 Context examples 

Also a placeholder to track the usage of Administered Components by different Contexts.

(Administered Component Designation, NCI Thesaurus)

Specifies whether the organization is real (actual) vs. placeholder (kind of).

(Organization Actual Indicator, NCI Thesaurus)

An asterisk may appear as a placeholder in the second or third segments.

(FDA National Drug Code, NCI Thesaurus)

Specifies whether the biologic entity group is real (actual) vs. placeholder (kind of).

(Biologic Entity Group Actual Indicator, NCI Thesaurus)

Specifies whether the biologic entity is real (actual) vs. placeholder (kind of).

(Biologic Entity Actual Indicator, NCI Thesaurus)

Currently, these elements are given the systematic placeholder names ununtrium, ununpentium, ununseptium and ununoctium, respectively.

(IUPAC proposes four new chemical element names, Wikinews)

Specifies whether the entity is real (actual) versus a placeholder (kind of).

(Actual Indicator, NCI Thesaurus)

EXAMPLE(S): A placeholder organization is the KIND OF organization that can play some role on a study during study design, whereas Good Health Hospital is an INSTANCE OF an organization that plays a role on a study conduct, such as StudySite.

(Organization Actual Indicator, NCI Thesaurus/BRIDG)