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

The Lakers played a video tribute during the first timeout to honor Hachimura’s four years with the franchise.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 24, 2026

And unlike Jacksonville, Baltimore had a timeout left.

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

The moment Flowers hit the ground, Jackson had the presence of mind to call a timeout.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026

But when I heard Doris come in, I called a timeout and started making up my bed.

From "When I Was the Greatest" by Jason Reynolds

During the closing stages of a nail-biter, teams call timeouts, run out of bounds and do everything they can to stop the clock.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026

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

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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