suspend

[ suh-spend ]
See synonyms for: suspendsuspended on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)
  1. to hang by attachment to something above: to suspend a chandelier from the ceiling.

  2. to attach so as to allow free movement: to suspend a door on a hinge.

  1. to keep from falling, sinking, forming a deposit, etc., as if by hanging: to suspend solid particles in a liquid.

  2. to hold or keep undetermined; refrain from forming or concluding definitely: to suspend one's judgment.

  3. to defer or postpone: to suspend sentence on a convicted person.

  4. to cause to cease or bring to a stop or stay, usually for a time: to suspend payment.

  5. to cause to cease for a time from operation or effect, as a law, rule, privilege, service, or the like: to suspend ferry service.

  6. to debar, usually for a limited time, from the exercise of an office or function or the enjoyment of a privilege: The student was suspended from school.

  7. to keep in a mood or feeling of expectation or incompleteness; keep waiting in suspense: Finish the story; don't suspend us in midair.

  8. Music. to prolong (a note or tone) into the next chord.

verb (used without object)
  1. to come to a stop, usually temporarily; cease from operation for a time.

  2. to stop payment; be unable to meet financial obligations.

  1. to hang or be suspended, as from another object: The chandelier suspends from the ceiling.

  2. to be suspended, as in a liquid, gas, etc.

Origin of suspend

1
First recorded in1250–1300; Middle English suspenden, from Latin suspendere “to hang up,” equivalent to sus- sus- + pendere (transitive) “to hang” (see pend, suspense)

synonym study For suspend

6. See interrupt.

Other words for suspend

Other words from suspend

  • sus·pend·i·ble, adjective
  • sus·pend·i·bil·i·ty [suh-spen-duh-bil-i-tee], /səˌspɛn dəˈbɪl ɪ ti/, noun
  • pre·sus·pend, verb (used with object)
  • re·sus·pend, verb
  • un·sus·pend·i·ble, adjective

Words Nearby suspend

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use suspend in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for suspend

suspend

/ (səˈspɛnd) /


verb
  1. (tr) to hang from above so as to permit free movement

  2. (tr; passive) to cause to remain floating or hanging: a cloud of smoke was suspended over the town

  1. (tr) to render inoperative or cause to cease, esp temporarily: to suspend interest payments

  2. (tr) to hold in abeyance; postpone action on: to suspend a decision

  3. (tr) to debar temporarily from privilege, office, etc, as a punishment

  4. (tr) chem to cause (particles) to be held in suspension in a fluid

  5. (tr) music to continue (a note) until the next chord is sounded, with which it usually forms a dissonance: See suspension (def. 11)

  6. (intr) to cease payment, as from incapacity to meet financial obligations

  7. (tr) obsolete to put or keep in a state of anxiety or wonder

  8. (intr) obsolete to be attached from above

Origin of suspend

1
C13: from Latin suspendere from sub- + pendere to hang

Derived forms of suspend

  • suspendible or suspensible, adjective
  • suspendibility, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012