timeout

or time-out

[ tahym-out ]

noun

, plural time·outs.

1. a brief suspension of activity; intermission or break.
2. Sports. a short interruption in a regular period of play during which a referee or other official stops the clock so that the players may rest, deliberate, make substitutions, etc.
3. a short time alone used as a punishment or consequence for a child who is misbehaving.
4. Computers.
   1. the termination of a process or event that is taking longer than expected to proceed, and that is more likely to be successful if relaunched, resubmitted, etc.
   2. the severing of an online connection after a period of inactivity, as when a user is logged out of a secure session on a webpage after a fixed period of time.

Word History and Origins

Origin of timeout¹

First recorded in 1870–75; time ( def ) + out ( def )

Example Sentences

“You knew it was pretty much over then because we had no timeouts,” Mahomes said.

From Washington Post

With that absent, Brooks searched for some other answer all game, exhausting his timeouts before the end of the third quarter.

From Washington Post

Frese called a timeout after the Badgers opened the second half with a 7-0 run, and the Terps promptly answered with a 13-0 burst of their own.

From Washington Post

I have never once requested a timeout, nor have I been given one.

From Washington Post

The legislation would have required any school that receives state funding to make a plan to reduce — and eventually eliminate — its reliance on any kind of timeout and restraint over the next three years.

From ProPublica

"We took a blow and had a timeout and I looked down around where we were standing and what I looked at was amazing," he said.

From The Daily Beast

A “timeout truce” in the campaign cash arms race neither limits free speech nor requires new legislation.

From The Daily Beast

And how about guzzling from the water bottle during a timeout as if he was the only one who was thirsty?

From The Daily Beast