timeout

American  

[tahym-aut] / ˈtaɪmˈaʊt /

Or time-out

noun

• timeouts
  plural

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.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• timeouts
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of timeout

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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

timeout timeouts

Did Daniels think the Commanders had a timeout remaining?

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

When the Eagles ran the ball on third down, the Jaguars used their final timeout, which they only had because Philadelphia hadn’t made them burn it earlier.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

What’s more, Harbaugh said he should have called a timeout when he saw the Broncos “gap down” before the snap to form the wall that stopped Herbert.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 11, 2026

At the Ifab's AGM in February, head of referees Pierluigi Collina said that finding a solution to stop the goalkeeper tactical timeout was a priority.

From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026

The world will give you that once in a while, a brief timeout; the boxing bell rings and you go to your corner, where somebody dabs mercy on your beat-up life.

From "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd

A solution to stop goalkeeper "tactical timeouts" is also set to be introduced.

From BBC ● Jun. 19, 2026

After two timeouts, Dent took the inbound on the left side of the court and drove the length of the floor before floating underneath 7-foot-2 Illinois center Zvonimir Ivisic to hit the game-winning layup.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 21, 2026

Medical timeouts are not permitted solely for muscle cramping.

From Barron's ● Jan. 30, 2026

Leading the Indianapolis Colts 15-13 with a minute to play, it was curious when Seattle coach Mike Macdonald started using his timeouts with Indianapolis’s offense barely over midfield at the 49 yard-line.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 15, 2025

My demands resulted only in timeouts, where I anxiously bit my fingernails.

From "Three Little Words: A Memoir" by Ashley Rhodes-Courter

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