full stop

American

noun

period.

full stop British

noun

Also called (esp US and Canadian): period. the punctuation mark (.) used at the end of a sentence that is not a question or exclamation, after abbreviations, etc

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of full stop

First recorded in 1590–1600

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

These are core financial tenets that should be followed 100% of the time, full stop.

From MarketWatch • Jan. 9, 2026

I've replied to many an email - my punctuation may be extra but a full stop feels blunt.

From BBC • Dec. 14, 2025

In case this wasn’t abundantly clear, Karol G is one of the most commercially, creatively significant artists on the planet, of any genre, full stop.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 1, 2025

Finally, thankful, full stop: Cardinal Robert Prevost ascending in May to the throne of Saint Peter, becoming the first American pontiff.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 26, 2025

But we should not be complacent even on behalf of the robust and unambiguous full stop.

From "Eats, Shoots & Leaves" by Author

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023