halt
halt Lexical Profile
halt Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A suspension of movement or activity, either temporary or permanent.
"Heavy snowfall brought commuter traffic across the entire region to a complete halt."
British A minor railway station or stopping place on a local train line, typically lacking a station building or staff.
"The rural train paused briefly at the country halt to let a single passenger disembark."
• verb
To bring or come to an abrupt stop.
"The archaeological team decided to halt excavations until the storm passed."
To waver, hesitate, or proceed with uncertainty (archaic except in the participial form 'halting').
"For a long time the council halted between two competing diplomatic strategies."
• interjection
Used as a sharp command ordering someone to stop moving immediately.
""Halt! Who goes there?" called the sentry from the watchtower."
• adjective
Lame, crippled, or walking with a limp (now archaic).
"The ancient chronicler described how the halt and the blind gathered at the temple gates for alms."
Word Nuance & Usage
'Halt' actually represents two etymologically distinct words: the common noun and verb meaning 'stop' (a 16th-century military borrowing from German), and an older, now archaic adjective and verb meaning 'lame' or 'to limp' (from Old English, preserved in modern usage through the participle 'halting').
• Rhymes for halt
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
The sense meaning 'a stop' entered English in the late 16th century via French 'halte' and Italian 'alto' from German 'Halt' (literally 'hold'), originating as a military command. The older sense meaning 'lame' or 'to limp' derives from Old English 'healt', of Proto-Germanic origin.