pause
(pôz)
[From Middle English, pause, from Old French, from Latin pausa, from Greek pausis, from pauein, to stop.]
verb: paused, paus·ing, paus·es.
intransitive verb
- To cease or suspend an action temporarily.
- To linger; tarry: paused for a while under the huge oak tree.
- To hesitate: He paused before replying.
transitive verb
- To cease or suspend the action of temporarily; stop for an interim: “Once a movie begins, it can be paused but not rewound or fast-forwarded” (George Judson)
noun
- A temporary cessation.
- A delay or suspended reaction, as from uncertainty; a hesitation: After a pause the audience broke into cheers.
- A break, stop, or rest, often for a calculated purpose or effect: After a dramatic pause, the lawyer finished her summation.
- Music A sign indicating that a note or rest is to be held.
- A break or rest in a line of poetry; a caesura.
- Reason for hesitation: The immensity of the task gives one pause.
synonyms:
pause, intermission, recess, respite, suspension These nouns denote a temporary stop, as in activity: a short pause in the conversation; a concert with a 15-minute intermission; the legislature's summer recess; toiling without respite; a suspension of work.
