Stop Definition

stŏp
stopped, stopping, stops
verb
stopped, stopping, stops
To staunch (a cut, wound, etc.)
Webster's New World
To fill in, plug up, or cover (a hole, cavity, opening, mouth, etc.)
Webster's New World
To leave off doing something; desist from continuing.
Webster's New World
To constrict (an opening or orifice).
My nose is stopped up.
American Heritage
To block up (a passage, road, pipe, etc.) so as to make impassable; obstruct.
Webster's New World
noun
stops
A stopping or being stopped; check; arrest; cessation; halt; specif., a pause in speech or at the end of a sense unit in verse.
Webster's New World
A coming to an end; finish; end.
Webster's New World
A stay or sojourn.
Webster's New World
A place stopped at, as on a bus route.
Webster's New World
A device or means that obstructs, blocks, or plugs up.
American Heritage
adjective
Of, relating to, or being of use at the end of an operation or activity.
A stop code.
American Heritage
That stops or is meant to stop.
A stop signal.
Webster's New World
Synonyms:
adverb
He's stop still.
Wiktionary
idiom
pull out all (the) stops
  • to apply maximum effort; use every means possible
Webster's New World
put a stop to
  • to cause to cease; stop; end
Webster's New World
stop at nothing
  • to be ruthlessly resolute in pursuing an end
Webster's New World
stop down
  • to reduce the lens aperture by adjustment of the diaphragm
Webster's New World
stop off
  • to stop for a short stay en route to a place
Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Stop

Noun

Singular:
stop
Plural:
stops

Origin of Stop

  • From Middle English stoppe, from Old English stoppa (“bucket, pail, a stop"), from Proto-Germanic *stuppô (“vat, vessel"), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)teub- (“to push, hit; stick, stump"). Cognate with Norwegian stopp, stoppa (“deep well, recess"), Middle High German stubech, stübich ("barrel, vat, unit of measure"; > German Stübchen). Related also to Middle Low German stōp (“beaker, flask"), Middle High German stouf (“beaker, flask"), Norwegian staupa (“goblet"), Icelandic staupa (“shot-glass"), Old English stÄ“ap (“a stoup, beaker, drinking vessel, cup, flagon"). Cognate to Albanian shtambë (“amphora, bucket"). See stoup.

    From Wiktionary

  • From Middle English stoppen, stoppien, from Old English stoppian (“to stop, close"), from Proto-Germanic *stuppōnÄ… (“to stop, close"), *stuppijanÄ… (“to push, pierce, prick"), from Proto-Indo-European *stÁb(h)-, *stemb(h)- (“to support, stamp, become angry, be amazed"). Cognate with West Frisian stopje (“to stop"), Dutch stoppen (“to stop"), Low German stoppen (“to stop"), German stopfen (“to be filling, stuff"), German stoppen (“to stop"), Danish stoppe (“to stop"), Swedish & Icelandic stoppa (“to stop"), Middle High German stupfen, stüpfen (“to pierce"). More at stuff, stump.

    From Wiktionary

  • Alternate etymology derives Proto-Germanic *stuppōnÄ… from an assumed Vulgar Latin *stÅ«pāre, *stuppāre (“to stop up with tow"), from stÅ«pa, stÄ«pa, stuppa (“tow, flax, oakum"), from Ancient Greek στύπη (stýpÄ“), στύππη (stýppÄ“, “tow, flax, oakum"), from Proto-Indo-European *steyÉ™- (“to thicken, clump up, condense"). This derivation, however, is doubtful, as the earliest instances of the Germanic verb do not carry the meaning of "stuff, stop with tow". Rather, these senses developed later in response to influence from similar sounding words in Latin and Romance.

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English stoppen from Old English -stoppian probably from Vulgar Latin stuppāre to caulk from Latin stuppa tow, broken flax from Greek stuppē

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

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