transitive verb
stopped, stop′ping- to close by filling, shutting off, covering, etc. to staunch (a cut, wound, etc.) to block up (a passage, road, pipe, etc.) so as to make impassable; obstruct: often with up to fill in, plug up, or cover (a hole, cavity, opening, mouth, etc.): often with up to close (a bottle, jug, etc.) as with a cork or cap
- to close (a finger hole of a wind instrument) so as to produce a desired tone
- to produce (a tone) in this way
- to cause to cease motion, activity, etc. to prevent the passage or further passage of (water, light, etc.); block; intercept to prevent the movement or further movement of; specif.,
- to halt the progress of (a person, animal, vehicle, etc.)
- to check (a blow, stroke, or thrust); parry; counter
- to defeat (an opponent)
- to intercept (a letter, etc.) in transit
- to baffle; perplex; nonplus
- to cause to cease or end: stop that racket
- to bring to an end; discontinue: to stop a subscription
- to kill
- to defeat, as by knocking out
- to keep from beginning, acting, happening, etc.; prevent to keep (a person) from doing something contemplated to prevent the starting, advent, etc. of; preclude to notify one's bank to withhold payment on (one's check)
Origin of stop
Middle English stoppen from Old English -stoppian (in compound ) from West Germanic stopp?n from Vulgar Latin an unverified form stuppare, to stop up, stuff from Classical Latin stuppa from Classical Greek stypp?, tow from Indo-European an unverified form stewe-, to thicken, contract from source Classical Greek styphein, to contract, Sanskrit stuka, tuft- to cease moving, walking, proceeding, etc.; halt
- to leave off doing something; desist from continuing
- to cease operating or functioning
- to be able to go no further; come to an end
- to become clogged or choked
- to tarry or stay for a while, esp. as a customer or guest: often with at or in
- a stopping or being stopped; check; arrest; cessation; halt; specif., a pause in speech or at the end of a sense unit in verse
- a coming to an end; finish; end
- a stay or sojourn
- a place stopped at, as on a bus route
- an indentation in the face of an animal, esp. a dog, between the forehead and the nose or muzzle
- something that stops; obstruction; obstacle; specif.,
- a plug or stopper
- stop order
- an order to withhold payment on a check
- a mechanical part that stops, limits, or regulates motion, as a pawl
- Chiefly Brit. a punctuation mark, esp. a period
- pressure, as of a finger, on a string of a violin, etc. to produce a desired tone
- a fret on a guitar, etc.
- the closing of a finger hole of a wind instrument to produce a desired tone
- such a hole
- a tuned set of organ pipes, reeds, or electronic devices of the same specific type and tone quality
- a pull, lever, or key for putting such a set or sets into or out of operation
- Naut. a piece of line used to secure something, as a sail
- Phonet.
- the complete stopping of the outgoing breath, as with the lips, tongue, or velum
- a consonant formed in this way, as (p), (b), (t), (d), (k), and (g)
- Photog.
- the aperture, usually adjustable, of a lens
- the f-number
that stops or is meant to stop: a stop signal
stop Idioms
pull out all (the) stops
Informal to apply maximum effort; use every means possible
Origin of stop
with ref. to the stops of an organput a stop to
to cause to cease; stop; end
stop at nothing
to be ruthlessly resolute in pursuing an end
stop down
Photog. to reduce the lens aperture by adjustment of the diaphragm
stop off
to stop for a short stay en route to a place
stop out
- to interrupt one's education as in order to work
- to block out (areas not to be printed or painted) as of a silk-screen design
stop over
- to visit for a whilealso stop in (or by)
- to break a journey, as for rest
