pause
Americannoun
-
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
-
a cessation of activity because of doubt or uncertainty; a momentary hesitation.
- Synonyms:
- lacuna, hiatus, halt, break, interruption, suspension
-
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
-
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.
-
Prosody. a break or suspension, as a caesura, in a line of verse.
-
Music. a fermata.
verb (used without object)
idioms
verb
-
to cease an action temporarily; stop
-
to hesitate; delay
she replied without pausing
noun
-
a temporary stop or rest, esp in speech or action; short break
-
prosody another word for caesura
-
Also called: fermata. music a continuation of a note or rest beyond its normal length
-
to cause to hesitate
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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nonpausenoun
-
pausernoun
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pausingnoun
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pausaladjective
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pausefuladjective
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pauselessadjective
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unpausingadjective
-
pausefullyadverb
-
pauselesslyadverb
-
pausinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
pausesimple
-
pausessimple
-
have pausedperfect
-
has pausedperfect
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am pausingprogressive
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are pausingprogressive
-
is pausingprogressive
-
have been pausingperfect progressive
-
has been pausingperfect progressive
Past
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pausedsimple
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had pausedperfect
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was pausingprogressive
-
were pausingprogressive
-
had been pausingperfect progressive
Future
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
Explanation
The noun pause means "a short break," like the pauses in television shows that allow for commercials to be shown. Pause can also be a verb that means "to stop for a short time." Teachers, for example, often pause after making an important point to check that students understand and to give them time to ask questions. Pause which rhymes with laws and cause, comes from the Greek word pausis, "stopping, ceasing," which comes from pauein "to stop, to cause to cease." Why don't you pause and think about that for a moment.
Vocabulary lists containing pause
The Best Starting Words for Wordle
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"Thank You, M'am"
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"Because I Could Not Stop for Death" by Emily Dickinson
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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.
See Examples For:
The increased pressure forced Canadian mining company Sherritt International to pause operations at a nickel and cobalt mine in Cuba earlier this year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
The group is pushing for a pause on “the development of the most dangerous AI systems” until its builders can prove they’re safe.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
Paramount's bid still faces hurdles across the Atlantic after a federal judge in California ordered the companies to temporarily pause their merger this week.
From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026
Homan defended the decision on July 14 as a limited tactical pause.
From Salon ● Jul. 21, 2026
Ordinarily, the words should have vanished and the landscape spun to reveal a pyramid bearing the film’s title, but Boris Karloff’s name did not leave the screen, and he wondered whether Molly had hit pause.
From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny
When Roman LeVine, 7, eagerly swings at a water balloon, his mom Nicole LeVine pauses to take a video.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
When Ms. Lewis pauses to suggest a little applause would be acceptable at a certain juncture, for instance, it feels amusingly almost like a royal command.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
He pauses before concluding: "The rest of the world may have a completely different opinion to the US box office figure, which I'm pretty certain will be the case actually."
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
As the schedule pauses this week for the annual All-Star break, the Dodgers have the best record in the sport at 61-36.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026
She pauses, looks like she’s trying to arrange what she wants to tell me in a way that won’t hurt.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
A federal judge paused the merger of Paramount and Warner Bros.
From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2026
When states restarted eligibility checks that had been paused during the pandemic, millions lost Medicaid coverage.
From Salon ● Jul. 19, 2026
Last week, Meta paused a new AI tool to generate images based on public Instagram accounts after users complained that people’s likeness could be used without their consent.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
"So, when someone rattles you, knocks you off your game, breaks your focus, you find yourself interrupted, paused, with changing disrupting rhythms."
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
When I told Ma I was closing the shop to go see Mrs. Kuen, she paused in the middle of grating a potato to study me.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
Her higher monthly bill means putting away less for her children’s college education and pausing family vacations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
New York became the first US state to halt construction of new large-scale data centers on Tuesday, with the governor signing an executive order pausing permits for up to one year.
From Barron's ● Jul. 14, 2026
In September 2024, it began cutting, lowering them six times before pausing at the end of last year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 17, 2026
The changes range in scale and scope, from disqualifying immigrants from certain jobs to indefinitely pausing the processing of visa applications.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 2026
He wound up his story by pausing and staring at the lectern for a count of ten; then he looked up frankly.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
