PAUSE


Meaning of PAUSE in English

— pausal , adj. — pauseful , adj. — pausefully , adv. — pauseless , adj. — pauselessly , adv. — pauser , n. — pausingly , adv.

/pawz/ , n. , v. , paused, pausing .

n.

1. a temporary stop or rest, esp. in speech or action: a short pause after each stroke of the oar.

2. a cessation of activity because of doubt or uncertainty; a momentary hesitation.

3. any comparatively brief stop, delay, wait, etc.: I would like to make a pause in my talk and continue after lunch.

4. a break or rest in speaking or reading to emphasize meaning, grammatical relation, metrical division, etc., or in writing or printing by the use of punctuation.

5. Pros. a break or suspension, as a caesura, in a line of verse.

6. Music. a fermata.

7. give pause , to cause to hesitate or be unsure, as from surprise or doubt: These frightening statistics give us pause.

v.i.

8. to make a brief stop or delay; wait; hesitate: He paused at the edge of the pool for a moment. I'll pause in my lecture so we can all get some coffee.

9. to dwell or linger (usually fol. by on or upon ): to pause upon a particular point.

[ 1400-50; (n.) ME pausa paûsis a halt, equiv. to paú ( ein ) to stop + -sis -SIS; (v.) deriv. of the n. ]

Syn. 1-3. suspension, interruption, break, halt; hiatus, lacuna. 8. rest. 9. tarry, delay.

Random House Webster's Unabridged English dictionary.      Полный английский словарь Вебстер - Random House .