standstill
Americannoun
-
standstills
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of standstill
First recorded in 1695–1705; noun use of verb phrase stand still
Explanation
When anything comes to a standstill, it stops moving, either literally coming to a motionless stop, or ceasing to make any progress. If you and your brother try to agree on what kind of pizza to order, but your negotiations come to a standstill, it means that neither one of you will budge or compromise, and you've reached a dead end. During rush hour on a busy highway, traffic often comes to a standstill — it simply stops. This "cessation of movement" meaning came first.
Vocabulary lists containing standstill
"All Summer in a Day" by Ray Bradbury
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"The Experiment" and "The World Is in Their Hands"
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The First State of Being
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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:
In 2021 energy rationing brought Chinese smelters to a standstill and caused magnesium prices to quintuple.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
Saudi Arabia’s futuristic megaproject Neom has come to a standstill, as the extraordinary costs of the planned city have collided with financial reality.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
The memorandum expired Monday and efforts to end the war appear to be at a standstill.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
But he also said that "if the situation really deteriorates and shipping were to come to a standstill, we could not rule out an impact on our results".
From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026
The thousands of acrobats, singers, dancers, and guests froze at a shocked standstill.
From "When the Sea Turned to Silver" by Grace Lin
They are noteworthy for their enormous scale, geometric precision and astronomical breadth and accuracy, such as encoding all eight lunar standstills over an 18.6-year cycle.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 19, 2023
After a summer of standstills, some relief may finally be on the way for traffic-weary visitors to Yosemite National Park.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2023
Measures could include debt standstills and sharing World Bank-I.M.F. debt sustainability analysis with all creditor nations simultaneously.
From New York Times ● Apr. 10, 2023
She also wants debt service standstills during restructuring negotiations and an expansion of the framework's remit as many countries holding the bulk of at-risk debt are not poor enough to currently qualify for relief.
From Reuters ● Feb. 17, 2022
Her brain stammered; seemed to fly loose; came to sudden standstills.
From Tatterdemalion by John Galsworthy
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.
