I. ˈhȯlt adjective
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English healt; akin to Old High German halz lame, Old Norse haltr, Gothic halts lame, Latin clades destruction, disaster, Greek klan to break, kolos docked, hornless, kolobos docked, curtailed, Lithuanian kalti to beat, forge; basic meaning: beating, hewing
: having a halting walk : lame
gave alms to the halt and … the poor — Jean Stafford
a place for everyone … old and young, hale and halt — Sir Winston Churchill
II. intransitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English halten, from Old English healtian; akin to Old High German halzēn to be lame, limp; derivatives from the root of English halt (I)
1. : to walk or proceed lamely : limp
so lamely … that dogs bark at me as I halt by them — Shakespeare
2. : to stand in perplexity or doubt between alternate courses : waver
3. : to display weakness or imperfection (as in argument, development, or meter) : proceed raggedly or falteringly : falter , lapse
the translation halts now and then — British Book News
the verse that halts in places
the argument often halts and sometimes breaks down completely
III. noun
( -s )
Etymology: German, from Middle High German, from halt!, imp. of halten to hold, stop, from Old High German haltan — more at hold
1. : a temporary or definitive stop in marching or walking or in any action or process : arrest of progress
the car came to a sudden halt
economic progress was brought to a halt
a halt , rather than a complete stoppage, in the flow of talent — Irish Digest
time to call a halt in a useless struggle
2. chiefly Britain : a stopping place for public transport ; especially : a railway flag stop
a slow train stopping at every station including halts — Punch
IV. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: German halten to hold, stop, from Old High German haltan
intransitive verb
1. : to cease marching or journeying : stop for a longer or shorter period : stand still
ordered his troops to halt
made two or three … paces about the room, and suddenly halted — W.J.Locke
many families halted and took up land in the mountain valleys — American Guide Series: Tennessee
2. : to discontinue temporarily or permanently : terminate , end , suspend
hostilities halted while the generals conferred
the project halted because of inadequate financial support
transitive verb
1. : to cause to cease marching or journeying : bring to a stop
halted the wagon train at a small settlement
halted the advance of his troops
slid the bowl back down the bar and halted it before the soldier — Kay Boyle
marshes that would have halted any vehicle — American Guide Series: North Carolina
2. : to cause the discontinuance of : terminate the existence or progress of : stop , discontinue
did the best he could to halt the erosion — D.L.Graham
consumer spending … rose and halted the decline — Dun's Review
halt hostilities
sought to halt corruption and increase efficiency