Interlude1. (n.) A short event between the longer acts of a play, or between the play and the afterpiece, to relieve the tedium of waiting.
2. (n.) A form of English drama or play, usually short, merry, and farcical, which succeeded the Moralities or Moral Plays in the transition to the romantic or Elizabethan drama.
3. (n.) A short piece of instrumental music played between the parts of a song or cantata, or the acts of a drama; especially, in church music, a short passage played by the organist between the stanzas of a hymn, or in German chorals after each line.
Thesaurus Entries
abeyance, act, afterpiece, anacrusis, bass passage, bit, bourdon, break, breath, breather, breathing place, breathing space, breathing spell, breathing time, bridge, burden, cadence, caesura, cease-fire, chaser, chorus, cigarette break, cocktail hour, coda, coffee break, curtain, curtain call, curtain raiser, day off, development, divertimento, divertissement, division, downtime, drop, enforced respite, epilogue, episode, exode, exodus, exposition, expository scene, figure, finale, folderol, gap, half time, half-time intermission, halt, happy hour, harmonic close, hesitation, hiatus, hoke act, holiday, idyll, interim, intermezzo, intermission, intermittence, interregnum, interruption, interval, introduction, introductory phrase, lacuna, lapse, layoff, letup, lull, meantime, meanwhile, measure, movement, musical phrase, musical sentence, number, off-time, ornament, parenthesis, part, passage, pause, period, phrase, plateau, point of repose, prologue, quiet spell, recess, refrain, relief, remission, resolution, respite, response, rest, resting point, ritornello, routine, scene, section, shtick, sketch, skit, song and dance, spell, stand-down, stand-up comedy act, stanza, statement, stay, stop, stoppage, strain, striptease, surcease, suspension, tailpiece, tea break, time off, time out, truce, turn, tutti, tutti passage, vacation, variation, verse, wait