Definition
An autopilot or flight director mode that maintains a selected flight parameter — most commonly altitude, heading, or vertical speed — at the value present when the mode is engaged, until the pilot changes the setting or selects a different mode.
Plain English
A setting that tells the autopilot to keep something steady — usually the current altitude or heading — exactly where it was the moment you pressed the button.
Context Anchor
Seen when using a GPS or other area-navigation unit to hold over a non-directional radio beacon or compass locator.
Derivation
From the everyday sense of 'hold' — to keep something in place. In autopilot terminology it means the system holds the chosen value steady rather than changing or capturing a new one.
Why Pilots Care
Allows precise, hands-off position holding for traffic sequencing and approach timing.
Analogy
It is like pausing a route on a map app so it does not automatically jump ahead to the next stop while you are still working around the current one.
Intuition Check
“Hold” does not mean physically stopping the airplane in place. It means staying assigned to the same navigation point and not letting the system move ahead to the next one.
Example Sentence 1
Once level at 6,000 feet, the pilot pressed ALT HOLD and the autopilot maintained that altitude hands-off.
Example Sentence 2
With HOLD mode active the system automatically adjusted headings to stay on the inbound and outbound legs despite a strong crosswind.