pause
/pɔːz
/verb [no object]
1Interrupt action or speech briefly: she paused, at a loss for words...
- They wandered about a little while, pausing briefly to pull on their boots.
- He might pause at the office briefly before leaving for the day.
- She pulled the wrapping paper from the gift, pausing only briefly at the nondescript box.
Synonyms
stop, cease, halt, discontinue, break off, take a break, take a breath;
adjourn, desist, rest, hold back, wait, delay, hesitate, hang back, pull up, mark time, falter, waver
informal let up, take a breather
1.1 [with object] Temporarily interrupt the operation of (a process or device): she had paused a tape on the VCR...
- Trying to deal with the embarrassing situation, the reporter had to pause the camera, comfort him and patiently tell him what he needed to say.
- Fay squealed seconds later, pausing the tape and pointing at the figure on the screen.
- Users can pause live TV, rewind and set up recordings - all without an advanced degree in VCR technology.
noun
1A temporary stop in action or speech: she dropped me outside during a brief pause in the rain [mass noun]: he chattered away without pause...
- It's a text without spacing, a speech without pause for breath.
- I heard the shower stop, a brief pause, then the whirr of an electric toothbrush started up.
- After a brief pause, it stopped momentarily on another tree.
Synonyms
stop, cessation, break, halt, stoppage, standstill, interruption, check, lull, respite, stay, breathing space, discontinuation, discontinuance, hiatus, gap, lapse (of time), interlude, intermission, interval, entr'acte;
adjournment, suspension, moratorium, interregnum;
rest, time out, stopover, delay, hold-up, wait;
hesitation, beat, caesura
informal let-up, breather
1.1 Music A mark over a note or rest that is to be lengthened by an unspecified amount.In the 5th Symphony he dispenses with the pause before the finale....
- There are a few pauses in the Allegro moderato and the final movement is quite thrilling in its peroration.
- Top it off with arrhythmic choruses drenched in vocoder effects and music pauses, and you have the blueprint for the entire album.
1.2 (also pause button) A control allowing the temporary interruption of recording, playback, or other process.You press the pause button and a series of commercials start playing… who should get the money?...
- Press the pause button, take a leak, come back and continue watching from where you left off.
- The same effect could be achieved by using the pause button on a DVD player.
Phrases
give pause to someone (or give someone pause for thought)
Origin
Late Middle English: from Old French, from Latin pausa, from Greek pausis, from pausein 'to stop'.
Pause goes back to Greek pausis, from pausein ‘to stop’. This is the same root as repose (Late Middle English), and pose (ME as a verb, but only E19th as a noun). The French word poseur was adopted in the late 19th century. See also puzzle