Definition
A painted marking on a taxiway that identifies the point at which an aircraft must stop when it does not have clearance to proceed onto the runway or other protected area. The marking consists of two solid yellow lines and two dashed yellow lines, with the solid lines on the side where the aircraft must hold.
Plain English
A line painted on the taxiway that tells you exactly where to stop and wait until you're cleared to cross or enter the runway.
Context Anchor
Seen while taxiing near runway entrances, runway crossings, and some protected areas on the airport surface.
Derivation
"Hold short" is standard ATC phrasing meaning "stop before reaching" a specific point. The marking shows the physical location of that hold-short instruction on the pavement.
Why Pilots Care
These markings help prevent runway incursions by establishing a clear visual boundary that aircraft must not cross without ATC clearance.
Analogy
It is similar to the stop line at a road intersection, but on an airport it protects runway and movement areas where aircraft may be taking off, landing, or taxiing.
Intuition Check
“Hold-short” does not mean slow down or pause briefly. It means stop before the marking and stay there until you have permission or it is safe and proper to continue.
Example Sentence 1
Tower instructed us to taxi to Runway 27 and hold short, so I stopped with the nosewheel just behind the hold-short position marking.
Example Sentence 2
While taxiing to the departure runway, the crew located the hold-short position marking and held position until receiving further instructions from the tower.