pause

American  

[pawz] / pɔz /

noun

1. a temporary stop or rest, especially in speech or action.

   a short pause after each stroke of the oar.

   Synonyms:

   lacuna, hiatus, halt, break, interruption, suspension

2. a cessation of activity because of doubt or uncertainty; a momentary hesitation.

   Synonyms:

   lacuna, hiatus, halt, break, interruption, suspension

3. any comparatively brief stop, delay, wait, etc..

   I would like to make a pause in my talk and continue after lunch.

   Synonyms:

   lacuna, hiatus, halt, break, interruption, suspension

4. a break or rest in speaking or reading to emphasize meaning, grammatical relation, metrical division, etc., or in writing or printing by the use of punctuation.

5. Prosody. a break or suspension, as a caesura, in a line of verse.

6. Music. a fermata.

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verb (used without object)

paused, pausing

1. to make a brief stop or delay; wait; hesitate.

   He paused at the edge of the pool for a moment. I'll pause in my lecture so we can all get some coffee.

   Synonyms:

   rest

2. to dwell or linger (usually followed by on orupon ).

   to pause upon a particular point.

   Synonyms:

   delay, tarry

idioms

1. give pause, to cause to hesitate or be unsure, as from surprise or doubt.

   These frightening statistics give us pause.

pause British  

/ pɔːz /

verb

1. to cease an action temporarily; stop

2. to hesitate; delay

   she replied without pausing

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noun

1. a temporary stop or rest, esp in speech or action; short break

2. prosody another word for caesura

3. Also called: fermata.  music a continuation of a note or rest beyond its normal length

4. to cause to hesitate

pause More Idioms  

1. see give pause.

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Other Word Forms

• nonpause noun
• pausal adjective
• pauseful adjective
• pausefully adverb
• pauseless adjective
• pauselessly adverb
• pauser noun
• pausing noun
• pausingly adverb
• unpausing adjective

Etymology

Origin of pause

First recorded in 1400–50; (for the noun) Middle English, from Latin pausa, from Greek paûsis “a halt,” from paú(ein) “to stop” + -sis -sis; verb derivative of the noun

Example Sentences

It said the pause would provide time to work with states and developers to mitigate security risks identified by the Defense Department in “recently completed classified reports.”

From The Wall Street Journal

During the pandemic, the Office of Federal Student Aid had allowed borrowers to pause payments on their student loans.

From Barron's

There’s a pause while all four Beatles whistle “God Save the Queen” in harmony.

From Salon

“Even so, the pause could last weeks to months, imposing significant costs on developers who had been eyeing completion within the next two years.”

From MarketWatch

The correction is met with a brief pause from Kaling, whose real-time processing felt tailor-made to be dubbed with “the woman was too stunned to speak” viral TikTok audio.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• breathing space
• halt
• hesitation
• hiatus
• hitch
• interlude
• intermission
• interruption
• interval
• lapse
• layoff
• letup
• lull
• recess
• respite
• stoppage
• suspension