Join Us On

An Encyclopædia Britannica Company

Thesaurus

Medical

Scrabble^®

Spanish Central

Browse Dictionary Browse Thesaurus

Get our free apps!iPhone•iPad•Android

Dictionary

¹stop

verb \ˈstäp\

: to not move, walk, etc., after doing so before

: to cause (someone or something) to not move, walk, etc., after doing so before

: to not do something that you have been doing before : to not continue doing something

stoppedstop·ping

Full Definition of STOP

transitive verb

a : to close by filling or obstructing

b : to hinder or prevent the passage of

c : to get in the way of : be wounded or killed by <easy to stop a bullet along a lonely…road — Harvey Fergusson>

a : to close up or block off (an opening) : plug

b : to make impassable : choke, obstruct

c : to cover over or fill in (a hole or crevice)

a : to cause to give up or change a course of action

b : to keep from carrying out a proposed action : restrain, prevent <stopped them from leaving>

a : to cause to cease : check, suppress

b : discontinue

a : to deduct or withhold (a sum due)

b : to instruct one's bank to refuse (payment) or refuse payment of (as a check)

a : to arrest the progress or motion of : cause to halt <stopped the car>

b : parry

c : to check by means of a weapon : bring down, kill

d : to beat in a boxing match by a knockout; broadly : defeat

e : baffle, nonplus

: to change the pitch of (as a violin string) by pressing with the finger or (as a wind instrument) by closing one or more finger holes or by thrusting the hand or a mute into the bell

: to hold an honor card and enough protecting cards to be able to block (a bridge suit) before an opponent can run many tricks

intransitive verb

a : to cease activity or operation <his heart stopped> <the rain stopped>

b : to come to an end especially suddenly : close, finish

a : to cease to move on : halt

b : pause, hesitate

a : to break one's journey : stay

b chiefly British : remain

c : to make a brief call : drop in

: to become choked : clog <the sink often stops up>

— stop·pa·ble \ˈstä-pə-bəl\ adjective

See stop defined for English-language learners

See stop defined for kids

Origin of STOP

Middle English stoppen, from Old English -stoppian, from Vulgar Latin *stuppare to stop with tow, from Latin stuppa tow, from Greek styppē

First Known Use: 13th century

Related to STOP

Synonyms: break, break off, break up, can [slang], cease, cut off, cut out, desist (from), discontinue, drop, end, give over, halt, knock off, lay off, leave off, pack (up or in), quit, shut off, have done with, put the kibosh on

Antonyms: continue, hang on, persist

Synonym Discussion of STOP

stop, cease, quit, discontinue, desist mean to suspend or cause to suspend activity. stop applies to action or progress or to what is operating or progressing and may imply suddenness or definiteness <stopped at the red light>. cease applies to states, conditions, or existence and may add a suggestion of gradualness and a degree of finality <by nightfall the fighting had ceased>. quit may stress either finality or abruptness in stopping or ceasing <the engine faltered, sputtered, then quit altogether>. discontinue applies to the stopping of an accustomed activity or practice <we have discontinued the manufacture of that item>. desist implies forbearance or restraint as a motive for stopping or ceasing <desisted from further efforts to persuade them>.

Rhymes with STOP

bop, chap, chop, clop, cop, crop, drop, flop, fop, glop, hop, knop, lop, mop, op, plop, pop, prop, scop, shop, slop, sop, strop, swap, top, whop

²stop

noun

Definition of STOP

a : cessation, end

b : a pause or breaking off in speech

a (1) : a graduated set of organ pipes of similar design and tone quality (2) : a corresponding set of vibrators or reeds of a reed organ (3) : stop knob —often used figuratively in phrases like pull out all the stops to suggest holding nothing back

b : a means of regulating the pitch of a musical instrument

a : something that impedes, obstructs, or brings to a halt : impediment, obstacle

b : the aperture of a camera lens; also : a marking of a series (as of f-numbers) on a camera for indicating settings of the diaphragm

c : a drain plug : stopper

: a device for arresting or limiting motion

: the act of stopping : the state of being stopped : check

a : a halt in a journey : stay <made a brief stop to refuel>

b : a stopping place <a bus stop>

a chiefly British : any of several punctuation marks

b —used in telegrams and cables to indicate a period

c : a pause or break in a verse that marks the end of a grammatical unit

a : an order stopping payment (as of a check or note) by a bank