stop
to cease from, leave off, or discontinue: to stop running.
to cause to cease; put an end to: to stop noise in the street.
to interrupt, arrest, or check (a course, proceeding, process, etc.): Stop your work just a minute.
to cut off, intercept, or withhold: to stop supplies.
to restrain, hinder, or prevent (usually followed by from): I couldn't stop him from going.
to prevent from proceeding, acting, operating, continuing, etc.: to stop a speaker; to stop a car.
to block, obstruct, or close (a passageway, channel, opening, duct, etc.) (usually followed by up): He stopped up the sink with a paper towel. He stopped the hole in the tire with a patch.
to fill the hole or holes in (a wall, a decayed tooth, etc.).
to close (a container, tube, etc.) with a cork, plug, bung, or the like.
to close the external orifice of (the ears, nose, mouth, etc.).
Sports.
to check (a stroke, blow, etc.); parry; ward off.
to defeat (an opposing player or team): The Browns stopped the Colts.
Boxing. to defeat by a knockout or technical knockout: Louis stopped Conn in the 13th round.
Banking. to notify a bank to refuse payment of (a check) upon presentation.
Bridge. to have an honor card and a sufficient number of protecting cards to keep an opponent from continuing to win in (a suit).
Music.
to close (a fingerhole) in order to produce a particular note from a wind instrument.
to press down (a string of a violin, viola, etc.) in order to alter the pitch of the tone produced from it.
to produce (a particular note) by so doing.
to come to a stand, as in a course or journey; halt.
to cease moving, proceeding, speaking, acting, operating, etc.; to pause; desist.
to cease; come to an end.
to halt for a brief visit (often followed by at, in, or by): He is stopping at the best hotel in town.
stop by, to make a brief visit on one's way elsewhere: I'll stop by on my way home.
the act of stopping.
a cessation or arrest of movement, action, operation, etc.; end: The noise came to a stop. Put a stop to that behavior!
a stay or sojourn made at a place, as in the course of a journey: Above all, he enjoyed his stop in Trieste.
a place where trains or other vehicles halt to take on and discharge passengers: Is this a bus stop?
a closing or filling up, as of a hole.
a blocking or obstructing, as of a passage or channel.
a plug or other stopper for an opening.
an obstacle, impediment, or hindrance.
any piece or device that serves to check or control movement or action in a mechanism.
Architecture. a feature terminating a molding or chamfer.
Commerce.
an order to refuse payment of a check.
Music.
the act of closing a fingerhole or pressing a string of an instrument in order to produce a particular note.
a device or contrivance, as on an instrument, for accomplishing this.
(in an organ) a graduated set of pipes of the same kind and giving tones of the same quality.
Also called stop knob. a knob or handle that is drawn out or pushed back to permit or prevent the sounding of such a set of pipes or to control some other part of the organ.
(in a reed organ) a group of reeds functioning like a pipe-organ stop.
Sports. an individual defensive play or act that prevents an opponent or opposing team from scoring, advancing, or gaining an advantage, as a catch in baseball, a tackle in football, or the deflection of a shot in hockey.
Nautical. a piece of small line used to lash or fasten something, as a furled sail.
Phonetics.
an articulation that interrupts the flow of air from the lungs.
a consonant sound characterized by stop articulation, as p, b, t, d, k, and g.: Compare continuant.
Photography. the diaphragm opening of a lens, especially as indicated by an f- number.
Building Trades.
any of various marks used as punctuation at the end of a sentence, especially a period.
the word “stop” printed in the body of a telegram or cablegram to indicate a period.
stops, (used with a singular verb) a family of card games whose object is to play all of one's cards in a predetermined sequence before one's opponents.
Zoology. a depression in the face of certain animals, especially dogs, marking the division between the forehead and the projecting part of the muzzle.
stop down, Photography. (on a camera) to reduce (the diaphragm opening of a lens).
stop in, to make a brief, incidental visit: If you're in town, be sure to stop in.
stop off, to halt for a brief stay at some point on the way elsewhere: On the way to Rome we stopped off at Florence.
stop out,
to mask (certain areas of an etching plate, photographic negative, etc.) with varnish, paper, or the like, to prevent their being etched, printed, etc.
to withdraw temporarily from school: Most of the students who stop out eventually return to get their degrees.
stop over, to stop briefly in the course of a journey: Many motorists were forced to stop over in that town because of floods.
Idioms about stop
pull out all the stops,
to use every means available.
to express, do, or carry out something without reservation.
Origin of stop
1synonym study For stop
Other words for stop
5 | thwart, obstruct, impede |
16 | quit |
21 | halt; termination |
23 | terminal |
28 | governor |
Opposites for stop
Other words from stop
- stopless, adjective
- stop·less·ness, noun
- mul·ti·stop, adjective
Words Nearby stop
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use stop in a sentence
Now I have a plausible explanation for how I feel, putting a stop to some of the second-guessing going on in my head.
Everything You Need to Know About Period Tracking | Christine Yu | September 6, 2020 | Outside OnlineIt seems like he’s going to continue to do this until someone puts a stop to it.
“People want to believe”: How Love Fraud builds an absorbing docuseries around a romantic con man | Alissa Wilkinson | September 4, 2020 | VoxThat promise was enough to quell a few lawsuits filed by California groups against the federal government for failing to put a stop to the sewage-filled stormwater rolling from Mexico’s hills.
Morning Report: Why COVID-19 Has Hit Latinos So Hard | Voice of San Diego | August 13, 2020 | Voice of San DiegoThe agency issued a stop sale, use or removal order, which is supposed to prevent the company from selling its product.
Environment Report: One Way to Force Companies to Emit Less Carbon | MacKenzie Elmer | August 10, 2020 | Voice of San DiegoThe chair of the Uptown Community Parking District board proposed using the funds for cleaning bus stops, but the city said no.
Morning Report: 3 Body Cameras, No Footage | Voice of San Diego | July 22, 2020 | Voice of San Diego
But I think Steve Austin has to team up with a Japanese holdout to stop a nuclear bomb from going off or something.
‘Archer’ Creator Adam Reed Spills Season 6 Secrets, From Surreal Plotlines to Life Post-ISIS | Marlow Stern | January 8, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTThat ground hold was to stop you flying through weather that could kill you and everyone else aboard.
Annoying Airport Delays Might Prevent You From Becoming the Next AirAsia 8501 | Clive Irving | January 6, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTThankfully there were no casualties—the driver managed to stop the train immediately.
The men were accused of reneging on pledges to stop working for the Iraqi government.
Has L.A. figured out how to stop the epidemic it set loose on the world?
The Daily Beast’s Best Longreads, Dec 29-Jan 4, 2014 | William Boot | January 4, 2015 | THE DAILY BEAST"But I can't stop to argue about it now;" and, saying this, he turned into a side path, and disappeared in the wood.
Davy and The Goblin | Charles E. CarrylAt twelve, or fifteen, or sixteen, or twenty it was decided that they should stop learning.
The Salvaging Of Civilisation | H. G. (Herbert George) WellsHe had seen the act committed, he felt sure but had made no effort whatever to stop the thief.
The Homesteader | Oscar MicheauxThe Kangaroo can hop and hop and hop; Somehow he never seems to want to stop.
Yet when I stop gazing the next impulse is to move on; for if I have time to rest anywhere, why not at home?
Glances at Europe | Horace Greeley
British Dictionary definitions for stop
/ (stɒp) /
to cease from doing or being (something); discontinue: stop talking
to cause (something moving) to halt or (of something moving) to come to a halt: to stop a car; the car stopped
(tr) to prevent the continuance or completion of: to stop a show
(tr often foll by from) to prevent or restrain: to stop George from fighting
(tr) to keep back: to stop supplies to the navy
(tr) to intercept or hinder in transit: to stop a letter
(tr often foll by up) to block or plug, esp so as to close: to stop up a pipe
(tr often foll by up) to fill a hole or opening in: to stop up a wall
(tr) to staunch or stem: to stop a wound
(tr) to instruct a bank not to honour (a cheque)
(tr) to deduct (money) from pay
(tr) British to provide with punctuation
(tr) boxing to beat (an opponent) either by a knockout or a technical knockout
(tr) informal to receive (a blow, hit, etc)
(intr) to stay or rest: we stopped at the Robinsons' for three nights
(tr) rare to defeat, beat, or kill
(tr) music
to alter the vibrating length of (a string on a violin, guitar, etc) by pressing down on it at some point with the finger
to alter the vibrating length of an air column in a wind instrument by closing (a finger hole, etc)
to produce (a note) in this manner
(tr) to place a hand inside (the bell of a French horn) to alter the tone colour and pitch or play (a note) on a French horn in such a manner
bridge to have a protecting card or winner in (a suit in which one's opponents are strong)
stop at nothing to be prepared to do anything; be unscrupulous or ruthless
an arrest of movement or progress
the act of stopping or the state of being stopped
a place where something halts or pauses: a bus stop
a stay in or as if in the course of a journey
the act or an instance of blocking or obstructing
a plug or stopper
a block, screw, or other device or object that prevents, limits, or terminates the motion of a mechanism or moving part
British a punctuation mark, esp a full stop
Also called: stop thrust fencing a counterthrust made without a parry in the hope that one's blade will touch before one's opponent's blade
short for stop payment, stop order
music
the act of stopping the string, finger hole, etc, of an instrument
a set of organ pipes or harpsichord strings that may be allowed to sound as a group by muffling or silencing all other such sets
a knob, lever, or handle on an organ, etc, that is operated to allow sets of pipes to sound
an analogous device on a harpsichord or other instrument with variable registers, such as an electrophonic instrument
pull out all the stops
to play at full volume
to spare no effort
Australian a stud on a football boot
the angle between the forehead and muzzle of a dog or cat, regarded as a point in breeding
nautical a short length of line or small stuff used as a tie, esp for a furled sail
Also called: stop consonant phonetics any of a class of consonants articulated by first making a complete closure at some point of the vocal tract and then releasing it abruptly with audible plosion. Stops include the labials (p, b), the alveolars or dentals (t, d), the velars (k, g): Compare continuant
Also called: f-stop photog
a setting of the aperture of a camera lens, calibrated to the corresponding f-number
another name for diaphragm (def. 4)
a block or carving used to complete the end of a moulding
Also called: stopper bridge a protecting card or winner in a suit in which one's opponents are strong
Origin of stop
1Derived forms of stop
- stoppable, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with stop
In addition to the idioms beginning with stop
- stop at nothing
- stop by
- stop cold
- stop in
- stop off
- stop payment
- stop short
- stop someone's clock
- stop the clock
- stop up
also see:
- buck stops here
- pull out all the stops
- put an end (a stop) to
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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