pause

[pawz]

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.

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

pause

/ pɔːz /

verb

1. to cease an action temporarily; stop

2. to hesitate; delay

   she replied without pausing

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

Other Word Forms

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of pause¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of pause¹

C15: from Latin pausa pause, from Greek pausis, from pauein to halt

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

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

   These frightening statistics give us pause.

see give pause.

Example Sentences

They witnessed a ninth-round spectacle as the fighters met in the centre, trading blows, with a brief pause after an accidental Alvarez headbutt.

From BBC

Two weeks after the Florida crash, Secretary of State Marco Rubio paused the issuing of work visas for foreigners looking to become commercial truck drivers in the United States.

From BBC

AstraZeneca has paused plans to invest £200m at a Cambridge research site in a fresh blow to the UK pharmaceutical industry.

From BBC

As we walked side by side toward our cars, we paused in front of a bookstore on the corner, its windows glowing warmly against the cold.

From Los Angeles Times

Mescal, especially, makes sadness vibrate as the plot takes us to Italy then London and back, and time apart comes to mean something entirely different than a pause between sung verses.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

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