pause
verbnouninterjectioncommon in dialogue
- United Kingdom//pɔːz//
- Australia//poːz//
- //pɔz//
- //pɑz//
To take a temporary rest, take a break for a short period after an effort.
verb
- 1
To take a temporary rest, take a break for a short period after an effort.
- 2
To stop (an activity) for a while.
The general public could therefore have been forgiven for thinking that work on the new station had stopped. But pausing work on an active construction site of this size is not straightforward.
- 3
To interrupt an activity and wait.
When telling the scary story, he paused for effect.
Tarry, pause a day or two.
pausing a while thus to herself she mused
She paused and took a defiant breath. ‘If you don't believe me, I can't help it. But I'm not a liar.’ ¶ ‘No,’ said Luke, grinning at her. ‘You're not dull enough![…]What about the kid's clothes? I don't suppose they were anything to write home about, but didn't you keep anything? A bootee or a bit of embroidery or anything at all?’
- 4
To hesitate; to hold back; to delay.
Why doth the Jew pause? Take thy forfeiture.
- 5
To halt the play or playback of, temporarily, so that it can be resumed from the same point.
to pause a song, a video, or a computer game
Press Start at any time to pause the game.
- 6
obsoleteTo consider; to reflect.
Take time to pause.
Etymology
From Middle French pause, from Latin pausa, from Ancient Greek παῦσις (paûsis), from Ancient Greek παύω (paúō, “stop”), of uncertain origin. Doublet of pausa.
noun
- 1
A temporary stop or rest; an intermission of action; interruption; suspension; cessation.
If the afternoon was fine they strolled together in the park, very slowly, and with pauses to draw breath wherever the ground sloped upward. The slightest effort made the patient cough.
- 2
A short time for relaxing and doing something else.
- 3
figurativeHesitation; suspense; doubt.
to take pause
to give pause
And like a man to double buſsines bound, / I ſtand in pauſe where I ſhall firſt beginne, […]
The US House speaker, Mike Johnson, said on Sunday he would have “great pause” about granting a pardon or commutation to Ghislaine Maxwell while another House Republican said it should be considered as part of an effort to obtain more information about Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes.
- 4
In writing and printing, a mark indicating the place and nature of an arrest of voice in reading; a punctuation mark.
Teach the pupil to mind the pauses.
- 5
A break or paragraph in writing.
He [Paul] is full of the Matter he treats and writes with Warmth, which uſually neglects Method, and thoſe Partitions and Pauſes which Men educated in the Schools of Rhetoricians uſually obſerve.
- 6
A sign indicating continuance of a note or rest.
- 7
Variant of PauseAlternative letter-case form of Pause (“a button that pauses or resumes something”).
interjection
- 1
slangUsed immediately after a statement to indicate that there was no innuendo or homosexual meaning intended, especially when such a meaning is a reasonable interpretation.
Forms
- plural
- pauses
- past tense
- paused
- past participle
- paused
- present participle
- pausing
- third person singular
- pauses
pause · To take a temporary rest, take a break for a short period after an effort.
Pause · A button whose functions are pausing and resuming something,…paved · Covered in pavement; having a hard surface, as of concrete or…Pavel · A transliteration of the Russian male given name Па́вел…