stop

[ stop ]

verb (used with object)

, stopped or (Archaic) stopt; stop·ping.

1. to cease from, leave off, or discontinue:

   to stop running.

   Antonyms: start

2. to cause to cease; put an end to:

   to stop noise in the street.

   Antonyms: start

3. to interrupt, arrest, or check (a course, proceeding, process, etc.):

   Stop your work just a minute.

   Antonyms: start

4. to cut off, intercept, or withhold:

   to stop supplies.

5. to restrain, hinder, or prevent (usually followed by from ):

   I couldn't stop him from going.

   Synonyms: impede, obstruct, thwart

6. to prevent from proceeding, acting, operating, continuing, etc.:

   to stop a speaker; to stop a car.

7. to block, obstruct, or close (a passageway, channel, opening, duct, etc.) (usually followed by up ):

   He stopped up the sink with a paper towel. He stopped the hole in the tire with a patch.

8. to fill the hole or holes in (a wall, a decayed tooth, etc.).
9. to close (a container, tube, etc.) with a cork, plug, bung, or the like.
10. to close the external orifice of (the ears, nose, mouth, etc.).
11. Sports.
    1. to check (a stroke, blow, etc.); parry; ward off.
    2. to defeat (an opposing player or team):

       The Browns stopped the Colts.

    3. Boxing. to defeat by a knockout or technical knockout:

       Louis stopped Conn in the 13th round.

12. Banking. to notify a bank to refuse payment of (a check) upon presentation.
13. Bridge. to have an honor card and a sufficient number of protecting cards to keep an opponent from continuing to win in (a suit).
14. Music.
    1. to close (a fingerhole) in order to produce a particular note from a wind instrument.
    2. to press down (a string of a violin, viola, etc.) in order to alter the pitch of the tone produced from it.
    3. to produce (a particular note) by so doing.

verb (used without object)

, stopped or (Archaic) stopt; stop·ping.

1. to come to a stand, as in a course or journey; halt.
2. to cease moving, proceeding, speaking, acting, operating, etc.; to pause; desist.

   Synonyms: quit

3. to cease; come to an end.
4. to halt for a brief visit (often followed by at, in, or by ):

   He is stopping at the best hotel in town.

5. stop by, to make a brief visit on one's way elsewhere:

   I'll stop by on my way home.

noun

1. the act of stopping.
2. a cessation or arrest of movement, action, operation, etc.; end:

   The noise came to a stop. Put a stop to that behavior!

   Synonyms: termination, halt

3. a stay or sojourn made at a place, as in the course of a journey:

   Above all, he enjoyed his stop in Trieste.

4. a place where trains or other vehicles halt to take on and discharge passengers:

   Is this a bus stop?

   Synonyms: terminal

5. a closing or filling up, as of a hole.
6. a blocking or obstructing, as of a passage or channel.
7. a plug or other stopper for an opening.
8. an obstacle, impediment, or hindrance.
9. any piece or device that serves to check or control movement or action in a mechanism.

   Synonyms: governor

10. Architecture. a feature terminating a molding or chamfer.
11. Commerce.
    1. an order to refuse payment of a check.
    2. stop order.
12. Music.
    1. the act of closing a fingerhole or pressing a string of an instrument in order to produce a particular note.
    2. a device or contrivance, as on an instrument, for accomplishing this.
    3. (in an organ) a graduated set of pipes of the same kind and giving tones of the same quality.
    4. Also called stop knob. a knob or handle that is drawn out or pushed back to permit or prevent the sounding of such a set of pipes or to control some other part of the organ.
    5. (in a reed organ) a group of reeds functioning like a pipe-organ stop.
13. Sports. an individual defensive play or act that prevents an opponent or opposing team from scoring, advancing, or gaining an advantage, as a catch in baseball, a tackle in football, or the deflection of a shot in hockey.
14. Nautical. a piece of small line used to lash or fasten something, as a furled sail.
15. Phonetics.
    1. an articulation that interrupts the flow of air from the lungs.
    2. a consonant sound characterized by stop articulation, as p, b, t, d, k, and g. Compare continuant.
16. Photography. the diaphragm opening of a lens, especially as indicated by an f- number.
17. Building Trades.
    1. stop bead.
    2. doorstop ( def 2 ).
18. any of various marks used as punctuation at the end of a sentence, especially a period.
19. the word “stop” printed in the body of a telegram or cablegram to indicate a period.
20. stops, (used with a singular verb) a family of card games whose object is to play all of one's cards in a predetermined sequence before one's opponents.
21. Zoology. a depression in the face of certain animals, especially dogs, marking the division between the forehead and the projecting part of the muzzle.

verb phrase

1. to halt for a brief stay at some point on the way elsewhere:

   On the way to Rome we stopped off at Florence.

2. 1. to mask (certain areas of an etching plate, photographic negative, etc.) with varnish, paper, or the like, to prevent their being etched, printed, etc.
   2. to withdraw temporarily from school:

      Most of the students who stop out eventually return to get their degrees.

3. to make a brief, incidental visit:

   If you're in town, be sure to stop in.

4. to stop briefly in the course of a journey:

   Many motorists were forced to stop over in that town because of floods.

5. Photography. (on a camera) to reduce (the diaphragm opening of a lens).

stop

/ stɒp /

verb

1. to cease from doing or being (something); discontinue

   stop talking

2. to cause (something moving) to halt or (of something moving) to come to a halt

   the car stopped

   to stop a car

3. tr to prevent the continuance or completion of

   to stop a show

4. troften foll byfrom to prevent or restrain

   to stop George from fighting

5. tr to keep back

   to stop supplies to the navy

6. tr to intercept or hinder in transit

   to stop a letter

7. troften foll byup to block or plug, esp so as to close

   to stop up a pipe

8. troften foll byup to fill a hole or opening in

   to stop up a wall

9. tr to staunch or stem

   to stop a wound

10. tr to instruct a bank not to honour (a cheque)
11. tr to deduct (money) from pay
12. tr to provide with punctuation
13. tr boxing to beat (an opponent) either by a knockout or a technical knockout
14. informal.
    tr to receive (a blow, hit, etc)
15. intr to stay or rest

    we stopped at the Robinsons' for three nights

16. rare.
    tr to defeat, beat, or kill
17. tr music
    1. to alter the vibrating length of (a string on a violin, guitar, etc) by pressing down on it at some point with the finger
    2. to alter the vibrating length of an air column in a wind instrument by closing (a finger hole, etc)
    3. to produce (a note) in this manner
18. tr to place a hand inside (the bell of a French horn) to alter the tone colour and pitch or play (a note) on a French horn in such a manner
19. bridge to have a protecting card or winner in (a suit in which one's opponents are strong)
20. stop at nothing
    to be prepared to do anything; be unscrupulous or ruthless

noun

1. an arrest of movement or progress
2. the act of stopping or the state of being stopped
3. a place where something halts or pauses

   a bus stop

4. a stay in or as if in the course of a journey
5. the act or an instance of blocking or obstructing
6. a plug or stopper
7. a block, screw, or other device or object that prevents, limits, or terminates the motion of a mechanism or moving part
8. a punctuation mark, esp a full stop
9. Also calledstop thrust fencing a counterthrust made without a parry in the hope that one's blade will touch before one's opponent's blade
10. short for stop payment stop order
11. music
    1. the act of stopping the string, finger hole, etc, of an instrument
    2. a set of organ pipes or harpsichord strings that may be allowed to sound as a group by muffling or silencing all other such sets
    3. a knob, lever, or handle on an organ, etc, that is operated to allow sets of pipes to sound
    4. an analogous device on a harpsichord or other instrument with variable registers, such as an electrophonic instrument
12. pull out all the stops
    1. to play at full volume
    2. to spare no effort
13. a stud on a football boot
14. the angle between the forehead and muzzle of a dog or cat, regarded as a point in breeding
15. nautical a short length of line or small stuff used as a tie, esp for a furled sail
16. Also calledstop consonant phonetics any of a class of consonants articulated by first making a complete closure at some point of the vocal tract and then releasing it abruptly with audible plosion. Stops include the labials (p, b), the alveolars or dentals (t, d), the velars (k, g) Compare continuant
17. Also calledf-stop photog
    1. a setting of the aperture of a camera lens, calibrated to the corresponding f-number
    2. another name for diaphragm
18. a block or carving used to complete the end of a moulding
19. Also calledstopper bridge a protecting card or winner in a suit in which one's opponents are strong

Derived Forms

• ˈstoppable, adjective

Other Words From

• stopless adjective
• stopless·ness noun
• multi·stop adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of stop¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English verb stoppen, stop(pe), Old English -stoppian; cognate with Dutch, Low German stoppen, German stopfen; all ultimately from Vulgar Latin stuppāre (unrecorded), “to plug with oakum,” derivative of Latin stuppa “coarse hemp or flax,” from Greek stýppē

Word History and Origins

Origin of stop¹

C14: from Old English stoppian (unattested), as in forstoppian to plug the ear, ultimately from Late Latin stuppāre to stop with a tow, from Latin stuppa tow, from Greek stuppē

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. pull out all the stops,
   1. to use every means available.
   2. to express, do, or carry out something without reservation.

More idioms and phrases containing stop

• buck stops here
• pull out all the stops
• put an end (a stop) to

Synonym Study

Stop, arrest, check, halt imply causing a cessation of movement or progress (literal or figurative). Stop is the general term for the idea: to stop a clock. Arrest usually refers to stopping by imposing a sudden and complete restraint: to arrest development. Check implies bringing about an abrupt, partial, or temporary stop: to check a trotting horse. To halt means to make a temporary stop, especially one resulting from a command: to halt a company of soldiers.

Example Sentences

Now I have a plausible explanation for how I feel, putting a stop to some of the second-guessing going on in my head.

From Outside Online

It seems like he’s going to continue to do this until someone puts a stop to it.

From Vox

That promise was enough to quell a few lawsuits filed by California groups against the federal government for failing to put a stop to the sewage-filled stormwater rolling from Mexico’s hills.

From Voice of San Diego

The agency issued a stop sale, use or removal order, which is supposed to prevent the company from selling its product.

From Voice of San Diego

The chair of the Uptown Community Parking District board proposed using the funds for cleaning bus stops, but the city said no.

From Voice of San Diego

But I think Steve Austin has to team up with a Japanese holdout to stop a nuclear bomb from going off or something.

From The Daily Beast

That ground hold was to stop you flying through weather that could kill you and everyone else aboard.

From The Daily Beast

Thankfully there were no casualties—the driver managed to stop the train immediately.

From The Daily Beast

The men were accused of reneging on pledges to stop working for the Iraqi government.

From The Daily Beast

Has L.A. figured out how to stop the epidemic it set loose on the world?

From The Daily Beast

"But I can't stop to argue about it now;" and, saying this, he turned into a side path, and disappeared in the wood.

From Project Gutenberg

At twelve, or fifteen, or sixteen, or twenty it was decided that they should stop learning.

From Project Gutenberg

He had seen the act committed, he felt sure but had made no effort whatever to stop the thief.

From Project Gutenberg

The Kangaroo can hop and hop and hop; Somehow he never seems to want to stop.

From Project Gutenberg

Yet when I stop gazing the next impulse is to move on; for if I have time to rest anywhere, why not at home?

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• arrest
• avoid
• bar
• block
• break
• check
• close
• disrupt
• intercept
• interrupt
• stall
• stay
• stem
• suspend