Synonyms

suspend

American

[suh-spend] / səˈspɛnd /

verb (used with object)

to hang by attachment to something above.

to suspend a chandelier from the ceiling.
to attach so as to allow free movement.

to suspend a door on a hinge.
to keep from falling, sinking, forming a deposit, etc., as if by hanging.

to suspend solid particles in a liquid.
to hold or keep undetermined; refrain from forming or concluding definitely.

to suspend one's judgment.
to defer or postpone.

to suspend sentence on a convicted person.
to cause to cease or bring to a stop or stay, usually for a time.

to suspend payment.

Synonyms:

discontinue, intermit
to cause to cease for a time from operation or effect, as a law, rule, privilege, service, or the like.

to suspend ferry service.
to debar, usually for a limited time, from the exercise of an office or function or the enjoyment of a privilege.

The student was suspended from school.
to keep in a mood or feeling of expectation or incompleteness; keep waiting in suspense.

Finish the story; don't suspend us in midair.
Music. to prolong (a note or tone) into the next chord.

verb (used without object)

to come to a stop, usually temporarily; cease from operation for a time.
to stop payment; be unable to meet financial obligations.
to hang or be suspended, as from another object.

The chandelier suspends from the ceiling.
to be suspended, as in a liquid, gas, etc.

suspend British

/ səˈspɛnd /

verb

(tr) to hang from above so as to permit free movement
(tr; passive) to cause to remain floating or hanging

a cloud of smoke was suspended over the town
(tr) to render inoperative or cause to cease, esp temporarily

to suspend interest payments
(tr) to hold in abeyance; postpone action on

to suspend a decision
(tr) to debar temporarily from privilege, office, etc, as a punishment
(tr) chem to cause (particles) to be held in suspension in a fluid
(tr) music to continue (a note) until the next chord is sounded, with which it usually forms a dissonance See suspension
(intr) to cease payment, as from incapacity to meet financial obligations
obsolete (tr) to put or keep in a state of anxiety or wonder
obsolete (intr) to be attached from above

"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

Usage

What does suspend mean? Suspend most commonly means to cause to stop, to bring to a stop, to withhold, or to postpone, as in The bank has suspended payments or All activities have been suspended until further notice. It also commonly means to hang something by attaching it to something else, especially with ropes or cables, as in We need to suspend the banner from the ceiling. More specifically, suspend can mean to officially punish someone, such as an employee, student, or athlete, so that they are not allowed to participate in an activity for a certain period of time, as in He was suspended for five games for fighting. A person punished in this way is said to be suspended. The noun form suspension can be used for most senses of suspend to refer to an instance or the process of suspending.

Synonym Usage

See interrupt.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of suspend

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English suspenden, from Latin suspendere “to hang up,” equivalent to sus- sus- + pendere (transitive) “to hang” ( see pend, suspense)

Explanation

You can use the verb suspend any time you need to stop something. Whether it’s your judgment, a rule, or bus service, when you suspend it, you temporarily bring it to a halt. Suspend often describes stopping an activity for a while. A winter storm, for example, may suspend air travel until weather conditions improve. Suspend also works in a more figurative sense, such as when you suspend your doubt in order to give someone or something a fair chance. A student who is suspended is temporarily forbidden from attending class. Don't confuse this with expel, which means he or she may never return.

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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:

suspend suspends suspended suspending

The SEC can seek civil monetary penalties and the return of illegal profits, and bar or suspend an individual from serving as a corporate officer or director, among other remedies.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026

This time, the U.S. did not say whether a specific incident prompted it to suspend inspections in Michoacán.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

Tama Zoo announced last month that it would suspend its lion exhibit and lion bus service, due to the "sudden heatwave" making the lions ill.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

Benzene is already too expensive for some industrial users to operate profitably, he said, adding that the longer the drought lasts, the more likely it is that some companies might suspend production.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026

To assure maximum attendance, Mayor Harrison had signed an official proclamation that urged every business to suspend operation for the day.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

It will also institute a “proactive lockout” that suspends access when the system detects suspicious behavior.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

March 14: Boeing suspends deliveries of the 737 MAX after global aviation regulators ground the jet.

From Barron's ● Aug. 3, 2026

The agreement only explicitly suspends Iranian tolls for the 60-day duration and calls for Iran and Oman to “conduct dialogue” about strait management alongside other Persian Gulf states and “in line with applicable international law.”

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 26, 2026

The NBA automatically suspends any player who receives 16 technical fouls during a season.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 6, 2026

"He takes away our charters, abolishes our laws, suspends our legislatures."

From Cardigan by Robert W. (Robert William) Chambers

Then, in a last-ditch effort to fend off Hong’s insurgency, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, who had previously suspended his campaign, reentered the race less than a month before polls opened.

From Slate ● Aug. 17, 2026

Sainsbury's has suspended its use of live facial recognition technology at one of its London branches after a customer was wrongly challenged as a shoplifter and asked to leave.

From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026

Both involve being suspended in water, which can support up to 90% of your body weight.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 16, 2026

After at least a dozen applicants collapsed and died during the run, possibly from the heat, the government temporarily suspended the tests.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026

The straps that had suspended the shark from the hoist had been sliced and frayed.

From "The Line Tender" by Kate Allen

The company added that suspending a store is a "precautionary measure" to prevent further alerts while staff undergo additional training.

From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026

Kumamoto General Hospital resumed normal outpatient services on 5 August , after suspending them following the earthquake on 28 July.

From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026

On Wednesday, regulators were obliged to enforce the circuit breaker, suspending all trading temporarily, for the second consecutive day and the tenth time this year.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 29, 2026

During negotiations in February, Iran proposed restricting its enrichment to 3.67 percent and suspending all enrichment for five years.

From Slate ● Jul. 23, 2026

Instead of emphasising the strong beats as the foot-tappingly predictable swing had done, bebop deliberately resisted, suspending the rigid reiteration of the regular pulse.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023