pause
Americannoun
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pauses
plural
-
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
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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
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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.
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Prosody. a break or suspension, as a caesura, in a line of verse.
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Music. a fermata.
verb (used without object)
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pauses,
present (3rd person singular)
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paused,
past participle, past
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pausing
present participle
idioms
verb
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to cease an action temporarily; stop
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to hesitate; delay
she replied without pausing
noun
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a temporary stop or rest, esp in speech or action; short break
-
prosody another word for caesura
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Also called: fermata. music a continuation of a note or rest beyond its normal length
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to cause to hesitate
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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nonpausenoun
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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
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pausefullyadverb
-
pauselesslyadverb
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pausinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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pausesimple
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pausessimple
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have pausedperfect
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has pausedperfect
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am pausingprogressive
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are pausingprogressive
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is pausingprogressive
-
have been pausingperfect progressive
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has been pausingperfect progressive
Past
-
pausedsimple
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had pausedperfect
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was pausingprogressive
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were pausingprogressive
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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:
"Mainly the aggression towards Greenland has caused great concern in Iceland and caused many people here to pause and reassess where Iceland belongs."
From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026
That legal pause was premature, according to the Justices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
Then, after a pause, she added an inspired riff: “But I do support the military.”
From Slate ● Aug. 25, 2026
But what really caught their attention was a long pause after Modi said, "friends".
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
She doesn’t even pause to wait for us.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
Readers’ senses are engaged as Muratov pauses in one place or another, such as in the Campagna on the outskirts of Rome.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
Before the hosts can begin flaking it, however, the show pauses to consider why Americans eat so little fish compared with people in Japan.
From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2026
New York school pauses plan to deploy humanlike AI robot teacher after backlash.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 31, 2026
"The systems are designed to withstand technical failures. If a computer crashes or power fails, the timer pauses automatically and resumes on another machine."
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
He pauses, eyes cutting into me again—but this time, I know it isn’t with all the anger he’s got built in him.
From "King and the Dragonflies" by Kacen Callender
Organisers said that the event had been "paused" following a "serious incident" and that no further programming would take place on Friday.
From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026
China paused its rescue operation at the hardest-hit part of Tibet over renewed risks of flooding, state media said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 28, 2026
Nvidia paused some deals in a new financing initiative that offered credit support to artificial-intelligence cloud providers in exchange for a share of revenue, according to people familiar with the matter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
Last year, Apple paused further development of its Vision Pro headset to focus on smartglasses to rival Meta’s Ray-Ban products.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026
He ate, when he paused, to give himself courage.
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
Donchatz and her sister peeked into the cabin, pausing at the many original family treasures on display.
From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026
Depending on how the rest of the preseason goes for Foster, he may be pausing his real-estate career.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026
Within weeks Masino pulled a U-turn, dumping the new logo, dropping the marketing firm behind it and pausing restaurant remodels, bringing back proven sellers like campfire meals and ham dinners.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
At home, I put it on my bedside table, pausing to start the rice cooker on my way.
From Salon ● Jul. 28, 2026
Nighthand was striding in a rapid circle around the square, pausing at each lamppost.
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
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.
