English edit

Etymology edit

hand +‎ holding

Noun edit

handholding (countable and uncountable, plural handholdings)

  1. The holding of hands.
    • 2010 Spring, “The Queerest Art: Genderf*ck”, in OutWrite Newsmagazine, University of California, Los Angeles, page 7:
      “I want to fuck gender. What does that mean? It means taking gender, a beautiful, wonderful thing and rockin it just right. Most cisfolk, they're stuck holding hands. And that's not to say no cisfolk fuck gender, or that hand holding isn't its own amazing thing. []
  2. Strong personal support or reassurance.

Adjective edit

handholding (not comparable)

  1. Holding hands.
  2. (by extension, of a couple) Deeply and ostentatiously in love.