Stop definition
An order given to a bank to withhold payment on a check.
noun
To order a bank to withhold payment of.
Stopped the check.
verb
A stop order.
noun
A place at which someone or something stops.
A regular stop on my delivery route; a bus stop.
noun
A device or means that obstructs, blocks, or plugs up.
noun
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The effective aperture of a lens, controlled by a diaphragm.
noun
To halt the motion or progress of.
Stopped me and asked directions.
verb
To block or deflect (a blow, for example); parry or ward off.
verb
To be or get in the way of (a bullet or other missile); be killed or wounded by.
verb
To cause to desist or to change a course of action.
The rain stopped us from continuing the argument.
verb
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To prevent or restrain.
An invitation to dinner stopped him from going to the movies.
verb
To defeat (an opponent or opposing team).
verb
To defeat in boxing by a knockout or technical knockout.
verb
To press down (a string on a stringed instrument) on the fingerboard to produce a desired pitch.
verb
To close (a hole on a wind instrument) with the finger in sounding a desired pitch.
verb
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To cease moving, progressing, acting, or operating; come to a halt.
The clock stopped in the night.
verb
To put an end to what one is doing; cease.
Had to stop at an exciting place in the book.
verb
To interrupt one's course or journey for a brief visit or stay. Often used with by, in, or off:
Stop by at a friend's house; stop in at the office; stop off at the gas station.
verb
The act of stopping or the condition of being stopped.
Can't you put a stop to all this ruckus? Production is at a stop.
noun
A part in a mechanism that stops or regulates movement.
noun
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A mark of punctuation, especially a period.
noun
(nautical) A line used for securing something temporarily.
A sail stop.
noun
The depression between the muzzle and top of the skull of an animal, especially a dog.
noun
(sports) A save made by a goalie.
noun
(games) A stopper.
noun
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(architecture) A projecting stone, often carved, at the end of a molding.
noun
A control mechanism on an audio or video player that causes a recording to stop playing.
noun
The act of stopping a string or hole on an instrument.
noun
A fret on a stringed instrument.
noun
A hole on a wind instrument.
noun
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A device such as a key for closing the hole on a wind instrument.
noun
A tuned set of pipes, as in an organ.
noun
A knob, key, or pull that regulates such a set of pipes.
noun
(linguistics) One of a set of speech sounds that is a plosive or a nasal.
noun
A plosive.
noun
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Of, relating to, or being of use at the end of an operation or activity.
A stop code.
adjective
To staunch (a cut, wound, etc.)
verb
To block up (a passage, road, pipe, etc.) so as to make impassable; obstruct.
verb
To fill in, plug up, or cover (a hole, cavity, opening, mouth, etc.)
verb
To close (a bottle, jug, etc.) as with a cork or cap.
verb
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To prevent the passage or further passage of (water, light, etc.); block; intercept.
verb
To prevent the movement or further movement of.
- 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.
verb
To cease; desist from (with a gerund)
Stop talking.
verb
To cause (an engine, machine, etc.) to cease operation.
verb
To press down (a violin string, etc.) against the fingerboard to produce a desired tone.
verb
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To place a stop order on (a stock or other security)
verb
(bridge) To hold a card or cards that will prevent an opponent from running (a suit)
verb
(chiefly brit.) To insert punctuation marks in.
verb
To keep (a person) from doing something contemplated.
verb
To prevent the starting, advent, etc. of; preclude.
verb
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To notify one's bank to withhold payment on (one's check)
verb
To close (a finger hole of a wind instrument) so as to produce a desired tone.
verb
To produce (a tone) in this way.
verb
To cause to cease or end.
Stop that racket.
verb
To bring to an end; discontinue.
To stop a subscription.
verb
To kill.
verb
To defeat, as by knocking out.
verb
To cease moving, walking, proceeding, etc.; halt.
verb
To leave off doing something; desist from continuing.
verb
To cease operating or functioning.
verb
To be able to go no further; come to an end.
verb
To become clogged or choked.
verb
To tarry or stay for a while, esp. as a customer or guest.
verb
A stopping or being stopped; check; arrest; cessation; halt; specif., a pause in speech or at the end of a sense unit in verse.
noun
A coming to an end; finish; end.
noun
A stay or sojourn.
noun
A place stopped at, as on a bus route.
noun
An indentation in the face of an animal, esp. a dog, between the forehead and the nose or muzzle.
noun
Something that stops; obstruction; obstacle.
- A plug or stopper.
- 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.
noun
(naut.) A piece of line used to secure something, as a sail.
noun
Pressure, as of a finger, on a string of a violin, etc. to produce a desired tone.
noun
A fret on a guitar, etc.
noun
The closing of a finger hole of a wind instrument to produce a desired tone.
noun
Such a hole.
noun
A tuned set of organ pipes, reeds, or electronic devices of the same specific type and tone quality.
noun
A pull, lever, or key for putting such a set or sets into or out of operation.
noun
The complete stopping of the outgoing breath, as with the lips, tongue, or velum.
noun
A consonant formed in this way, as (p), (b), (t), (d), (k), and (g)
noun
The aperture, usually adjustable, of a lens.
noun
The f-number.
noun
That stops or is meant to stop.
A stop signal.
adjective
The depression between the muzzle and top of the skull of an animal, especially a dog.
noun
(intransitive) To come to an end.
The riots stopped when police moved in.
Soon the rain will stop.
verb
To cause (something) to cease moving or progressing.
The sight of the armed men stopped him in his tracks.
This guy is a fraudster. I need to stop the cheque I wrote him.
verb
To cause (something) to come to an end.
The referees stopped the fight.
verb
(intransitive) To stay; to spend a short time; to reside temporarily.
To stop with a friend.
He stopped for two weeks at the inn.
verb
(music) To regulate the sounds of (musical strings, etc.) by pressing them against the fingerboard with the finger, or otherwise shortening the vibrating part.
verb
(zoology) The depression in a dog's face between the skull and the nasal bones.
The stop in a bulldog's face is very marked.
noun
(engineering) A device, or piece, as a pin, block, pawl, etc., for arresting or limiting motion, or for determining the position to which another part shall be brought.
noun
(architecture) A member, plain or moulded, formed of a separate piece and fixed to a jamb, against which a door or window shuts.
noun
The diaphragm used in optical instruments to cut off the marginal portions of a beam of light passing through lenses.
noun
A halt or stay, as on a trip.
We made a stop in Austin.
noun
To stop is defined as to block, close, defeat, prevent from moving or bring to an end.
An example of to stop is a dam keeping water from flowing in a river.
An example of to stop is to apply the car's brakes and the car stands still at a red light.
verb
To close (an opening or hole) by covering, filling in, or plugging up.
The tea leaves stopped the drain.
verb
To constrict (an opening or orifice).
My nose is stopped up.
verb
To obstruct or block passage on (a road, for example).
verb
To prevent the flow or passage of.
Stop supplies from getting through.
verb
To discontinue or cease.
He stopped his complaining.
verb
pull out all (the) stops
- to apply maximum effort; use every means possible
idiom
put a stop to
- to cause to cease; stop; end
idiom
stop at nothing
- to be ruthlessly resolute in pursuing an end
idiom
stop down
- to reduce the lens aperture by adjustment of the diaphragm
idiom
stop off
- to stop for a short stay en route to a place
idiom
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
idiom
stop over
- to visit for a while
- to break a journey, as for rest
idiom
Idioms and Phrasal Verbs
Origin of stop
- 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
- 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