stop definition | Dictionary.com

stop

[stop]

verb, stopped or (Archaic

) stopt; stop⋅ping; noun

–verb (used with object)

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

2.	to cause to cease; put an end to: to stop noise in the street.

3.	to interrupt, arrest, or check (a course, proceeding, process, etc.): Stop your work just a minute.

4.	to cut off, intercept, or withhold: to stop supplies.

5.	to restrain, hinder, or prevent (usually fol. by from): I couldn't stop him from going.

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 fol. 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.

a.	to check (a stroke, blow, etc.); parry; ward off.

b.	to defeat (an opposing player or team): The Browns stopped the Colts.

c.	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.

a.	to close (a fingerhole) in order to produce a particular note from a wind instrument.

b.	to press down (a string of a violin, viola, etc.) in order to alter the pitch of the tone produced from it.

c.	to produce (a particular note) by so doing.

–verb (used without object)

15.	to come to a stand, as in a course or journey; halt.

16.	to cease moving, proceeding, speaking, acting, operating, etc.; to pause; desist.

17.	to cease; come to an end.

18.	to halt for a brief visit (often fol. by at, in, or by): He is stopping at the best hotel in town.

19.	stop by, to make a brief visit on one's way elsewhere: I'll stop by on my way home.

–noun

20.	the act of stopping.

21.	a cessation or arrest of movement, action, operation, etc.; end: The noise came to a stop. Put a stop to that behavior!

22.	a stay or sojourn made at a place, as in the course of a journey: Above all, he enjoyed his stop in Trieste.

23.	a place where trains or other vehicles halt to take on and discharge passengers: Is this a bus stop?

24.	a closing or filling up, as of a hole.

25.	a blocking or obstructing, as of a passage or channel.

26.	a plug or other stopper for an opening.

27.	an obstacle, impediment, or hindrance.

28.	any piece or device that serves to check or control movement or action in a mechanism.

29.	Architecture. a feature terminating a molding or chamfer.

30.

Commerce.

a.	an order to refuse payment of a check.

b.	stop order.

31.

Music.

a.	the act of closing a fingerhole or pressing a string of an instrument in order to produce a particular note.

b.	a device or contrivance, as on an instrument, for accomplishing this.

c.	(in an organ) a graduated set of pipes of the same kind and giving tones of the same quality.

d.	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.

e.	(in a reed organ) a group of reeds functioning like a pipe-organ stop.

32.	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.

33.	Nautical. a piece of small line used to lash or fasten something, as a furled sail.

34.

Phonetics.

a.	an articulation that interrupts the flow of air from the lungs.

b.	a consonant sound characterized by stop articulation, as p, b, t, d, k, and g. Compare continuant.

35.	Photography. the diaphragm opening of a lens, esp. as indicated by an f- number.

36.

Building Trades.

a.	stop bead.

b.	doorstop (def. 2).

37.	any of various marks used as punctuation at the end of a sentence, esp. a period.

38.	the word “stop” printed in the body of a telegram or cablegram to indicate a period.

39.	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.

40.	Zoology. a depression in the face of certain animals, esp. dogs, marking the division between the forehead and the projecting part of the muzzle.

—Verb phrases

41.	stop down, Photography. (on a camera) to reduce (the diaphragm opening of a lens).

42.	stop in, to make a brief, incidental visit: If you're in town, be sure to stop in.

43.	stop off, to halt for a brief stay at some point on the way elsewhere: On the way to Rome we stopped off at Florence.

44.

stop out,

a.	to mask (certain areas of an etching plate, photographic negative, etc.) with varnish, paper, or the like, to prevent their being etched, printed, etc.

b.	to withdraw temporarily from school: Most of the students who stop out eventually return to get their degrees.

45.	stop over, to stop briefly in the course of a journey: Many motorists were forced to stop over in that town because of floods.

—Idiom

46.

pull out all the stops,

a.	to use every means available.

b.	to express, do, or carry out something without reservation.

Origin:
bef. 1000; ME stoppen (v.), OE -stoppian (in forstoppian to stop up); c. D, LG stoppen, G stopfen; all ≪ VL *stuppāre to plug with oakum, deriv. of L stuppa coarse hemp or flax < Gk stýppē

Related forms:

stopless, adjective

stop⋅less⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
3. 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, esp. one resulting from a command: to halt a company of soldiers. 5. thwart, obstruct, impede. 16. quit. 21. halt; termination. 23. terminal. 28. governor.

Antonyms:
1–3. start.

door⋅stop

[dawr-stop, dohr-]

–noun

1.	a device for holding a door open, as a wedge or small weight.

2.	Also called slamming stile, stop. (in a doorframe) a strip or projecting surface against which the door closes.

3.	a device for preventing a door from striking a wall or an object on a wall, as a small rubber-covered projection.

Origin:
1870–75, Americanism; door + stop

stop bead

–noun

a strip of molding along the inside of a window frame for holding a sliding sash.

Also called stop.

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

stop (stŏp)

v. stopped, stop·ping, stops

v. tr.

To close (an opening or hole) by covering, filling in, or plugging up: The tea leaves stopped the drain.
To constrict (an opening or orifice): My nose is stopped up.
To obstruct or block passage on (a road, for example).
To prevent the flow or passage of: stop supplies from getting through.
1. To halt the motion or progress of: stopped me and asked directions.
2. To block or deflect (a blow, for example); parry or ward off.
3. To be or get in the way of (a bullet or other missile); be killed or wounded by.
4. To cause to desist or to change a course of action: stopped us from continuing the argument.
5. To prevent or restrain: stopped him from going.
6. To defeat (an opponent or opposing team).
7. To defeat in boxing by a knockout or technical knockout.
8. To press down (a string on a stringed instrument) on the fingerboard to produce a desired pitch.
9. To close (a hole on a wind instrument) with the finger in sounding a desired pitch.
1. To cause to desist or to change a course of action: stopped us from continuing the argument.
2. To prevent or restrain: stopped him from going.
3. To defeat (an opponent or opposing team).
4. To defeat in boxing by a knockout or technical knockout.
5. To press down (a string on a stringed instrument) on the fingerboard to produce a desired pitch.
6. To close (a hole on a wind instrument) with the finger in sounding a desired pitch.
To discontinue or cease: He stopped his complaining.
1. To defeat (an opponent or opposing team).
2. To defeat in boxing by a knockout or technical knockout.
3. To press down (a string on a stringed instrument) on the fingerboard to produce a desired pitch.
4. To close (a hole on a wind instrument) with the finger in sounding a desired pitch.
To order a bank to withhold payment of: stopped the check.
Music
1. To press down (a string on a stringed instrument) on the fingerboard to produce a desired pitch.
2. To close (a hole on a wind instrument) with the finger in sounding a desired pitch.

v. intr.

To cease moving, progressing, acting, or operating; come to a halt: The clock stopped in the night.
To put an end to what one is doing; cease: had to stop at an exciting place in the book.
To interrupt one's course or journey for a brief visit or stay. Often used with by, in, or off: stop by at a friend's house; stop in at the office; stop off at the gas station.

The act of stopping or the condition of being stopped; cessation.
A finish; an end.
A stay or visit, as one taken during a trip.
A place at which someone or something stops: a regular stop on my paper route; a bus stop.
A device or means that obstructs, blocks, or plugs up.
An order given to a bank to withhold payment on a check.
A part in a mechanism that stops or regulates movement.
The effective aperture of a lens, controlled by a diaphragm.
A mark of punctuation, especially a period.
Music
1. The act of stopping a string or hole on an instrument.
2. A fret on a stringed instrument.
3. A hole on a wind instrument.
4. A device such as a key for closing the hole on a wind instrument.
5. A tuned set of pipes, as in an organ.
6. A knob, key, or pull that regulates such a set of pipes.
7. Linguistics One of a set of speech sounds that is a plosive or a nasal.
8. A plosive.
Nautical A line used for securing something temporarily: a sail stop.
1. Linguistics One of a set of speech sounds that is a plosive or a nasal.
2. A plosive.
The depression between the muzzle and top of the skull of an animal, especially a dog.
Sports A save made by a goalie.
Games A stopper.
Architecture A projecting stone, often carved, at the end of a molding.

adj. Of, relating to, or being of use at the end of an operation or activity: a stop code.
Phrasal Verb(s):
stop downTo reduce (the aperture) of a lens.
stop outTo withdraw temporarily from college.

[Middle English stoppen, from Old English -stoppian, probably from Vulgar Latin *stuppāre, to caulk, from Latin stuppa, tow, broken flax, from Greek stuppē.]
stop'pa·ble adj.

Synonyms: These verbs mean to bring or come to an end: stop arguing; ceased crying; desist from complaining; discontinued the treatment; halting the convoy; quit laughing.
Antonym: start

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

Stop

Stop\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Stopped; p. pr. & vb. n. Stopping.] [OE. stoppen, AS. stoppian (in comp.); akin to LG. & D. stoppen, G. stopfen, Icel. stoppa, Sw. stoppa, Dan. stoppe; all probably fr. LL. stopare, stupare, fr. L. stuppa the coarse part of flax, tow, oakum. Cf. Estop, Stuff, Stupe a fomentation.]

1. To close, as an aperture, by filling or by obstructing; as, to stop the ears; hence, to stanch, as a wound. --Shak.

2. To obstruct; to render impassable; as, to stop a way, road, or passage.

3. To arrest the progress of; to hinder; to impede; to shut in; as, to stop a traveler; to stop the course of a stream, or a flow of blood.

4. To hinder from acting or moving; to prevent the effect or efficiency of; to cause to cease; to repress; to restrain; to suppress; to interrupt; to suspend; as, to stop the execution of a decree, the progress of vice, the approaches of old age or infirmity.

Whose disposition all the world well knows Will not be rubbed nor stopped. --Shak.

5. (Mus.) To regulate the sounds of, as musical strings, by pressing them against the finger board with the finger, or by shortening in any way the vibrating part.

6. To point, as a composition; to punctuate. [R.]

If his sentences were properly stopped. --Landor.

7. (Naut.) To make fast; to stopper.

Syn: To obstruct; hinder; impede; repress; suppress; restrain; discontinue; delay; interrupt.

To stop off (Founding), to fill (a part of a mold) with sand, where a part of the cavity left by the pattern is not wanted for the casting.

To stop the mouth. See under Mouth.

Stop

Stop\, v. i. 1. To cease to go on; to halt, or stand still; to come to a stop.

He bites his lip, and starts; Stops on a sudden, looks upon the ground; Then lays his finger on his temple: strait Springs out into fast gait; then stops again. --Shak.

2. To cease from any motion, or course of action.

Stop, while ye may, suspend your mad career! --Cowper.

3. To spend a short time; to reside temporarily; to stay; to tarry; as, to stop with a friend. [Colloq.]

By stopping at home till the money was gone. --R. D. Blackmore.

To stop over, to stop at a station beyond the time of the departure of the train on which one came, with the purpose of continuing one's journey on a subsequent train; to break one's journey. [Railroad Cant, U.S.]

Stop

Stop\, n. 1. The act of stopping, or the state of being stopped; hindrance of progress or of action; cessation; repression; interruption; check; obstruction.

It is doubtful . . . whether it contributed anything to the stop of the infection. --De Foe.

Occult qualities put a stop to the improvement of natural philosophy. --Sir I. Newton.

It is a great step toward the mastery of our desires to give this stop to them. --Locke.

2. That which stops, impedes, or obstructs; as obstacle; an impediment; an obstruction.

A fatal stop traversed their headlong course. --Daniel.

So melancholy a prospect should inspire us with zeal to oppose some stop to the rising torrent. --Rogers.

3. (Mach.) A device, or piece, as a pin, block, pawl, etc., for arresting or limiting motion, or for determining the position to which another part shall be brought.

4. (Mus.) (a) The closing of an aperture in the air passage, or pressure of the finger upon the string, of an instrument of music, so as to modify the tone; hence, any contrivance by which the sounds of a musical instrument are regulated.

The organ sound a time survives the stop. --Daniel. (b) In the organ, one of the knobs or handles at each side of the organist, by which he can draw on or shut off any register or row of pipes; the register itself; as, the vox humana stop.

5. (Arch.) A member, plain or molded, formed of a separate piece and fixed to a jamb, against which a door or window shuts. This takes the place, or answers the purpose, of a rebate. Also, a pin or block to prevent a drawer from sliding too far.

6. A point or mark in writing or printing intended to distinguish the sentences, parts of a sentence, or clauses; a mark of punctuation. See Punctuation.

7. (Opt.) The diaphragm used in optical instruments to cut off the marginal portions of a beam of light passing through lenses.

8. (Zo["o]l.) The depression in the face of a dog between the skull and the nasal bones. It is conspicuous in the bulldog, pug, and some other breeds.

9. (Phonetics) Some part of the articulating organs, as the lips, or the tongue and palate, closed (a) so as to cut off the passage of breath or voice through the mouth and the nose (distinguished as a lip-stop, or a front-stop, etc., as in p, t, d, etc.), or (b) so as to obstruct, but not entirely cut off, the passage, as in l, n, etc.; also, any of the consonants so formed. --H. Sweet.

Stop bead (Arch.), the molding screwed to the inner side of a window frame, on the face of the pulley stile, completing the groove in which the inner sash is to slide.

Stop motion (Mach.), an automatic device for arresting the motion of a machine, as when a certain operation is completed, or when an imperfection occurs in its performance or product, or in the material which is supplied to it, etc.

Stop plank, one of a set of planks employed to form a sort of dam in some hydraulic works.

Stop valve, a valve that can be closed or opened at will, as by hand, for preventing or regulating flow, as of a liquid in a pipe; -- in distinction from a valve which is operated by the action of the fluid it restrains.

Stop watch, a watch the hands of which can be stopped in order to tell exactly the time that has passed, as in timing a race. See Independent seconds watch, under Independent, a.

Syn: Cessation; check; obstruction; obstacle; hindrance; impediment; interruption.

Language Translation for : stop

Spanish: impedir, evitar, detener,

German: anhalten,

Japanese: 止める

More Translations »

stop (v.)

O.E. -stoppian (in forstoppian "to stop up, stifle"), along with M.L.G. stoppen, O.H.G. stopfon (Ger. stopfen) a W.Gmc. borrowing from V.L. *stuppare "to stop or stuff with tow or oakum" (cf. It. stoppare, Fr. étouper "to stop with tow"), from L. stuppa "coarse part of flax, tow." Plugs made of tow were used from ancient times in Rhine valley. Sense of "bring or come to a halt" (1440) is from notion of preventing a flow by blocking a hole, and the word's development in this sense is unique to Eng., though it since has been widely adopted in other languages; perhaps infl. by L. stupere "be stunned, be stupefied." The noun is first recorded 1483. Stopper "glass plug for a bottle neck" is from 1667. Stopgap is from 1684. Stop-watch is from 1737. Stop-and-go (adj.) is from 1926.

Main Entry: stop
Function: verb
Inflected Forms: stopped; stop·ping
transitive verb 1 : to cause to halt <stopped payment>
2 : to subject to a legal stop intransitive verb : to cease activity or motion

Main Entry: stop
Function: noun
: an act or instance of stopping; specifically : a temporary detention that constitutes a limited seizure of a person for the purpose of inquiry or investigation and that must be based on reasonable suspicion —see also TERRY STOP —compare ARREST

stop

In addition to the idioms beginning with stop, also see buck stops here; pull out all the stops; put an end (a stop) to.

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