end-stopped

[ end-stopt ]

adjective

, Prosody.

1. (of a line of verse) ending at the end of a syntactic unit that is usually followed by a pause in speaking and a punctuation mark in writing.

end-stopped

adjective

1. (of verse) having a pause at the end of each line

Word History and Origins

Origin of end-stopped¹

First recorded in 1875–80

Example Sentences

The core style is low-slung and fluid in an international contemporary vein, but with precisely attacked, end-stopped action that seems to be drawn from martial arts.

From New York Times

The poem is nine such statements in nine end-stopped lines.

From The New Yorker

Mr. Morris makes sure that we register his motifs — they often come like punch lines, more staccato and end-stopped than the musical figures they illustrate — after which his reiterations are more than we need.

From New York Times

Mr. Kikta’s music, in seven sections, had largely predictable rhythms; Mr. Walker’s 10 dancers, with end-stopped phrasing, seemed more trapped than liberated by them.

From New York Times

But the body language, far more end-stopped than Mozart’s phraseology, becomes a mere effect — and is then repeated too often.

From New York Times