timeout

Or time-out

[tahym-out]

noun

plural

timeouts 

1. a brief suspension of activity; intermission or break.

2. Sports.,  a short interruption in a regular period of play during which a referee or other official stops the clock so that the players may rest, deliberate, make substitutions, etc.

3. a short time alone used as a punishment or consequence for a child who is misbehaving.

4. Computers.

   1. the termination of a process or event that is taking longer than expected to proceed, and that is more likely to be successful if relaunched, resubmitted, etc.

   2. the severing of an online connection after a period of inactivity, as when a user is logged out of a secure session on a webpage after a fixed period of time.

Word History and Origins

Origin of timeout¹

First recorded in 1870–75; time ( def. ) + out ( def. )

Example Sentences

On Monday, Inglewood’s head coach, Jason Crowe Sr, called timeout when the Southern Section record was broken.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

It is not a timeout—more of a “time in” to a different way of seeing myself.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Coming out of a timeout, the 6-1 Davidson cut swiftly through two defenders toward the basket, caught an inbound pass and, without taking a step, laid in the game-winning bucket.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Whether it's simply slowing the game down, or creating a tactical timeout with an apparent injury, it's affecting your enjoyment of matches.

Read more on BBC

"I would give each team at least one timeout per half, and you can use that whenever you want," he said.

Read more on BBC