ADJOURN


Meaning of ADJOURN in English

ad ‧ journ /əˈdʒɜːn $ -ɜːrn/ BrE AmE verb

[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: ajourner , from jour 'day' ]

1 . [intransitive and transitive] if a meeting, parliament, law court etc adjourns, or if the person in charge adjourns it, it stops for a short time:

It was almost noon when the meeting adjourned.

adjourn for/until

Congress has adjourned for the November elections.

His trial was adjourned until May.

2 . adjourn to something to finish an activity and go somewhere – often used humorously:

The rest of us adjourned to a nearby pub for some refreshments.

—adjournment noun [uncountable and countable] :

We sought an adjournment of the proceedings.

• • •

THESAURUS

▪ pause to stop speaking or stop doing something for a very short time before starting again. Pause is used especially in written descriptions. In everyday spoken English, people usually just say stop :

She paused at the bottom of the stairs and looked up at the clock.

|

He paused, waiting for Larry to say something.

▪ hesitate to stop for a moment and wait before doing something, because you feel unsure or nervous about it:

She hesitated for a moment before replying.

▪ have/take a break to stop working for a short time in order to rest, eat etc:

We’re all getting tired. Let’s take a break for ten minutes.

▪ adjourn formal if a meeting or court adjourns or is adjourned, it stops for a short time:

If there are no more questions, the committee will adjourn until tomorrow morning.

|

The trial was adjourned because one of the defendants was ill.

▪ take five especially American English informal to stop for a short time in order to rest:

Let’s take five and get some coffee.

▪ break off to suddenly stop speaking, especially because you see, hear, or think of something:

He broke off his conversation when he saw Mary running towards him.

|

She broke off and looked embarrassed, then said, ‘I’ll explain later.’

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.      Longman - Словарь современного английского языка.