halt

- 15 dictionary results

halt

1 [hawlt]

–verb (used without object)

1.	to stop; cease moving, operating, etc., either permanently or temporarily: They halted for lunch and strolled about.

–verb (used with object)

2.	to cause to stop temporarily or permanently; bring to a stop: They halted operations during contract negotiations.

–noun

3.	a temporary or permanent stop.

–interjection

4.	(used as a command to stop and stand motionless, as to marching troops or to a fleeing suspect.)

Origin:
1615–25; from the phrase make halt for G halt machen. See hold ¹

Synonyms:
2. See stop. 3. cessation, suspension, standstill, stoppage.

halt

2 [hawlt]

–verb (used without object)

1.	to falter, as in speech, reasoning, etc.; be hesitant; stumble.

2.	to be in doubt; waver between alternatives; vacillate.

3.	Archaic. to be lame; walk lamely; limp.

–adjective

4.	Archaic. lame; limping.

–noun

5.	Archaic. lameness; a limp.

6.	(used with a plural verb) lame people, esp. severely lamed ones (usually prec. by the): the halt and the blind.

Origin:
bef. 900; ME; OE healt; c. OHG halz, ON haltr, Goth halts, akin to L clādēs damage, loss

Related forms:

haltless, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To halt

halt¹ (hôlt)

n.  A suspension of movement or progress, especially a temporary one: The car rolled to a halt when it stalled.
v.   halt·ed, halt·ing, halts

v.   tr.
To cause to stop: The government hopes to halt tax fraud.
v.   intr.
To stop; pause: The hikers halted for lunch and some rest. See Synonyms at stop.

[German, sing. imperative of halten, to stop, from Middle High German, from Old High German haltan.]

halt² (hôlt)

intr.v. halt·ed, halt·ing, halts

To proceed or act with uncertainty or indecision; waver.
To be defective or proceed poorly, as in the development of an argument in logic or in the rhythmic structure of verse.
To limp or hobble.

adj. Archaic
Lame; crippled.

[Middle English halten, to limp, from Old English healtian.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Halt

Halt\, 3d pers. sing. pres. of Hold, contraction for holdeth. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

Halt

Halt\, n. [Formerly alt, It. alto, G. halt, fr. halten to hold. See Hold.] A stop in marching or walking, or in any action; arrest of progress.

Without any halt they marched. --Clarendon.

[Lovers] soon in passion's war contest, Yet in their march soon make a halt. --Davenant.

Halt

Halt\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Halted; p. pr. & vb. n. Halting.]

1. To hold one's self from proceeding; to hold up; to cease progress; to stop for a longer or shorter period; to come to a stop; to stand still.

2. To stand in doubt whether to proceed, or what to do; to hesitate; to be uncertain.

How long halt ye between two opinions? --1 Kings xviii. 21

Halt

Halt\, v. t. (Mil.) To cause to cease marching; to stop; as, the general halted his troops for refreshment.

Halt

Halt\, a. [AS. healt; akin to OS., Dan., & Sw. halt, Icel. haltr, halltr, Goth. halts, OHG. halz.] Halting or stopping in walking; lame.

Bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. --Luke xiv. 21.

Halt

Halt\, n. The act of limping; lameness.

Halt

Halt\, v. i. [OE. halten, AS. healtian. See Halt, a.]

1. To walk lamely; to limp.

2. To have an irregular rhythm; to be defective.

The blank verse shall halt for it. --Shak.

Language Translation for : halt

Spanish: parar, detener,

German: halten,

Japanese: 止める

More Translations »

halt (n.)

"stop," 1622, from Fr. halte or It. alto, ult. from Ger. Halt, imperative from O.H.G. halten "to hold" (see hold). A Ger. militaryommand borrowed into the Romance languages 16c.

halt (adj.)

"lame," in O.E. lemphalt "limping," from P.Gmc. *haltaz (cf. O.Fris. halt, O.N. haltr, O.H.G. halz, Goth. halts "lame"), from PIE *qelad, from base *qela- "to break" (cf. Rus. koldyka "lame," Gk. kolobos "broken, curtailed").

Halt

lame on the feet (Gen. 32:31; Ps. 38:17). To "halt between two opinions" (1 Kings 18:21) is supposed by some to be an expression used in "allusion to birds, which hop from spray to spray, forwards and backwards." The LXX. render the expression "How long go ye lame on both knees?" The Hebrew verb rendered "halt" is used of the irregular dance ("leaped upon") around the altar (ver. 26). It indicates a lame, uncertain gait, going now in one direction, now in another, in the frenzy of wild leaping.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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halt

see call a halt; come to a halt; grind to a halt.

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