[pawz] 
noun, verb, paused, paus⋅ing.| 1. | a temporary stop or rest, esp. in speech or action: a short pause after each stroke of the oar. |
| 2. | a cessation of activity because of doubt or uncertainty; a momentary hesitation. |
| 3. | any comparatively brief stop, delay, wait, etc.: I would like to make a pause in my talk and continue after lunch. |
| 4. | a break or rest in speaking or reading to emphasize meaning, grammatical relation, metrical division, etc., or in writing or printing by the use of punctuation. |
| 5. | Prosody. a break or suspension, as a caesura, in a line of verse. |
| 6. | Music. a fermata. |
| 7. | to make a brief stop or delay; wait; hesitate: He paused at the edge of the pool for a moment. I'll pause in my lecture so we can all get some coffee. |
| 8. | to dwell or linger (usually fol. by on or upon): to pause upon a particular point. |
| 9. | give pause, to cause to hesitate or be unsure, as from surprise or doubt: These frightening statistics give us pause. |
| pause (pôz) v. paused, paus·ing, paus·es v. intr.
To cease or suspend the action of temporarily; stop for an interim: "Once a movie [ordered on demand] begins, it can be paused but not rewound or fast-forwarded" (George Judson). n.
[From Middle English, pause, from Old French, from Latin pausa, from Greek pausis, from pauein, to stop.] Synonyms: These nouns denote a temporary stop, as in activity: a short pause in the conversation; a concert with a 15-minute intermission; the legislature's summer recess; toiling without respite; a suspension of work. |
pause (pôz)
n.
A temporary stop or cessation.