hole up

[Daruma]

Hello.

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hole - Definition from Longman English Dictionary Online
hole up [phrasal verb]
to hide somewhere for a period of time
hole up in/with/at
- The gunmen are still holed up in the town.

Merriam-Webster's Learner's Dictionary
hole up [phrasal verb] informal : to stay in a place hidden or apart from other people
- The criminals holed up in a downtown motel for a few days.
- The band holed up in the recording studio to record their album.
You can hole up in a place or be/stay holed up in a place.
- The band was/stayed holed up in the recording studio.
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The gunmen are still holed up in the town.
Can I say, "The gunmen are still holing up in the town"? Do the sentences mean the same thing?

Thank you.

[zjennin]

I'm not sure about the rules here, but as a native speaker I must say that I have never heard it used that way. It doesn't sound quite right to me.

[ptetpe]

Hope this explanation is relevant

[b] A similar pseudo-passive is used with verbs of posture:
Grandfather was sat in the rocking chair.
I've been stood here for about ten minutes.

In this case,the construction is largely synonymous with,though less common than,the progressive construction: was sitting, have been standing, etc.

Source: A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language by Quirk et al. P.170

Also from one of many sample sentences in http://www.americancorpus.org/

Date 1992 (19921217)
Title Marines Deliver Food Beyond Baidoa, Trouble Reported Elsewhere
Author By TINA SUSMAN, Associated Press Writer
Source Associated Press

Expanded context:

troops to reach Kismayo and Bardera in the last stages of Operation Restore Hope after first moving north from Baidoa. # In Baidoa, Marines began foot patrols through town, attracting flocks of children. # Few weapons have been displayed openly in Baidoa since the Marines' arrival, but they still are being used. A cameraman for VisNews had his camera stolen today by three teen-agers with AK-47s who surrounded him as he filmed children at a feeding center. # Still, the situation is far from the chaos of the last few weeks, when aid workers were holing up in their compounds at night for fear of looters. # Some 530 Marines and 140 French paratroopers arrived in Baidoa Wednesday. Within hours, they declared Baidoa's airport and the road from Mogadishu secured. Later, they escorted a truck carrying a small amount of food to a Baidoa orphanage. # Today, the Marines learned firsthand of Baidoa's dismal conditions. Rain overnight turned the town into a giant, mosquito-infested mud puddle, and hundreds of troops at the airport were without tents. #

[Raymott]

The gunmen are still holed up in the town.
Can I say, "The gunmen are still holing up in the town"? Do the sentences mean the same thing?

Thank you.

You could. but I agree that it sounds strange.

[Daruma]

- The criminals holed up in a downtown motel for a few days.
Would it be better to say, "The criminals were holed up..."?

- The band holed up in the recording studio to record their album.
Would it be better to say, "The band was holed up..."?

[Raymott]

- The criminals holed up in a downtown motel for a few days.
Would it be better to say, "The criminals were holed up..."?

- The band holed up in the recording studio to record their album.
Would it be better to say, "The band was holed up..."?

Yes, I'd say so.