pause
pause definition
pause (pôz)
noun
- a short period of inaction; temporary stop, break, or rest, as in speaking or reading
- hesitation; interruption; delay pursuit without pause
- a stop or break in speaking or reading, which clarifies meaning
- any mark of punctuation indicating this
- Music
- the holding of a tone or rest beyond its written value, at the discretion of the performer
- a sign indicating this, written above the note or rest
- Prosody a rhythm break or caesura
Etymology: ME pawse < MFr pause < L pausa < Gr pausis, a stopping < pauein, to bring to an end < IE base *paus-, to let go > OPrus pausto, wild
Related Forms:
- pauser paus′er noun
pause Idioms
give someone pause
to make someone hesitant or uncertain
Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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