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.
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.
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.
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.
To halt the motion or progress of: stopped me and asked directions.
To block or deflect (a blow, for example); parry or ward off.
To be or get in the way of (a bullet or other missile); be killed or wounded by.
To cause to desist or to change a course of action: stopped us from continuing the argument.
To prevent or restrain: stopped him from going.
To defeat (an opponent or opposing team).
To defeat in boxing by a knockout or technical knockout.
To press down (a string on a stringed instrument) on the fingerboard to produce a desired pitch.
To close (a hole on a wind instrument) with the finger in sounding a desired pitch.
To cause to desist or to change a course of action: stopped us from continuing the argument.
To prevent or restrain: stopped him from going.
To defeat (an opponent or opposing team).
To defeat in boxing by a knockout or technical knockout.
To press down (a string on a stringed instrument) on the fingerboard to produce a desired pitch.
To close (a hole on a wind instrument) with the finger in sounding a desired pitch.
To discontinue or cease: He stopped his complaining.
To defeat (an opponent or opposing team).
To defeat in boxing by a knockout or technical knockout.
To press down (a string on a stringed instrument) on the fingerboard to produce a desired pitch.
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
To press down (a string on a stringed instrument) on the fingerboard to produce a desired pitch.
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.
n.
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
The act of stopping a string or hole on an instrument.
A fret on a stringed instrument.
A hole on a wind instrument.
A device such as a key for closing the hole on a wind instrument.
A tuned set of pipes, as in an organ.
A knob, key, or pull that regulates such a set of pipes.
Linguistics One of a set of speech sounds that is a plosive or a nasal.
A plosive.
Nautical A line used for securing something temporarily: a sail stop.
Linguistics One of a set of speech sounds that is a plosive or a nasal.
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.
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] 
verb, stopped or (Archaic
) stopt; stop⋅ping; noun