stop
stop Lexical Profile
stop Game Scores & Validity
• interjection
Used as an urgent command or exclamation to instruct someone to halt their movement or cease an action immediately.
"Stop! Look both ways before you step into the street."
• noun
A cessation of movement, operation, or an ongoing activity.
"The express train came to a sudden stop just before the station platform."
A designated place where buses, trains, or other public transport vehicles regularly halt for passengers to board or alight, or a brief stay made during a journey.
"We need to get off the bus at the next stop near the public library."
A mechanical device, block, or knob that regulates movement or controls airflow and pitch in an instrument, such as a pipe organ.
"The organist pulled out the brass flute stop to brighten the melody during the recital."
A consonant sound produced by completely obstructing and then releasing the airflow in the vocal tract, such as 'p', 't', or 'k'.
"In phonetics, a voiceless bilabial stop is formed by briefly pressing both lips together."
• verb
To prevent, restrain, or hinder someone from doing something, or to keep an undesirable event from happening.
"Strict safety protocols were implemented to stop the chemical leak from spreading into the soil."
To come to an end of movement, operation, or an ongoing activity, or to cause an action or process to cease.
"The heavy rain finally stopped late in the afternoon, allowing the outdoor concert to proceed."
To instruct a bank to withhold payment on a check, or to suspend wages or deductions.
"When she realized her checkbook was missing, she immediately called the bank to stop payment on the remaining checks."
To plug, seal, or fill up a hole, opening, or passage in order to prevent leakage or flow.
"The sailor used oakum and pitch to stop the narrow gap between the wooden hull planks."
Word Nuance & Usage
When followed by another verb, 'stop' changes meaning depending on the verb form: 'stop doing' (with a gerund) means to cease an ongoing action entirely, whereas 'stop to do' (with an infinitive) means to pause one activity in order to begin another.
• Rhymes for stop
Word Origin & Etymology
From Old English 'forstoppian' (to plug up or stifle), derived from West Germanic '*stoppon', an early borrowing from Vulgar Latin '*stuppare' (to plug with tow or oakum), from Latin 'stuppa' (coarse flax).