Pause1. (n.) A temporary stop or rest; an intermission of action; interruption; suspension; cessation.
2. (n.) Temporary inaction or waiting; hesitation; suspense; doubt.
3. (n.) In speaking or reading aloud, a brief arrest or suspension of voice, to indicate the limits and relations of sentences and their parts.
4. (n.) In writing and printing, a mark indicating the place and nature of an arrest of voice in reading; a punctuation point; as, teach the pupil to mind the pauses.
5. (n.) A break or paragraph in writing.
6. (n.) A hold. See 4th Hold, 7.
7. (n.) To make a short stop; to cease for a time; to intermit speaking or acting; to stop; to wait; to rest.
8. (n.) To be intermitted; to cease; as, the music pauses.
9. (n.) To hesitate; to hold back; to delay.
10. (n.) To stop in order to consider; hence, to consider; to reflect.
11. (v. t.) To cause to stop or rest; -- used reflexively.
Thesaurus Entries
abeyance, accent, accent mark, afterthought, back down, balance, bar, bashfulness, bind, blench, block, blockage, boggle, boggling, boundary, breach, break, breath, breathe, breather, breathing place, breathing space, breathing spell, breathing time, breve rest, bureaucratic delay, caesura, call a break, call a recess, call time, cancel, cease-fire, cessation, character, cigarette break, clause boundary, clause terminal, close juncture, cocktail hour, coffee break, colon, comma, compunction, custos, day off, debate, declare a recess, delay, delayage, delayed reaction, deliberate, demur, demurral, detention, diffidence, direct, discontinuance, discontinuation, discontinue, discontinuity, dot, double take, downtime, dragging, drop, eighth rest, enforced respite, expression mark, falling terminal, falter, faltering, fear, fermata, fight shy of, fissure, flinch, gap, half rest, half time, half-time intermission, halt, hang back, hang off, hang-up, happy hour, have qualms, hem and haw, hesitance, hesitancy, hesitate, hesitation, hiatus, hindrance, hold, hold off, hold up, hold-up, holdup, holiday, hover, hum and haw, interim, interlude, intermezzo, intermission, intermit, intermittence, interregnum, interrupt, interruption, interval, intervene, jam, jib, juncture, key signature, knock off, lacuna, lag, lagging, lapse, lay off, layoff, lead, let up, letup, ligature, logjam, lull, make bones about, mark, mark time, measure, metronomic mark, minim, modesty, moratorium, notation, objection, obstruction, off-time, open juncture, paperasserie, period, plateau, point, point of repose, ponder, presa, protest, pull back, quail, qualm, qualm of conscience, qualmishness, quarter rest, quiet spell, recess, recoil, red tape, red-tapeism, red-tapery, relief, remission, reprieve, respite, rest, resting point, retardance, retardation, retreat, rising terminal, sandhi, scruple, scrupulosity, scrupulousness, segno, semicolon, shilly-shally, shrink, shrinking, shy, shy at, shyness, sign, signature, sixteenth rest, slow-up, slowdown, slowness, slur, spell, stand-down, stay, stay of execution, stick at, stickle, stickling, stop, stop for breath, stop to consider, stoppage, straddle the fence, strain, strain at, surcease, suspend, suspension, swell, symbol, take a break, take a recess, take a rest, take five, take ten, take time out, tea break, tempo mark, terminal, think twice about, tie, tie-up, time lag, time off, time out, time signature, truce, vacation, vinculum, wait, waver, wince, withdraw, word boundary, yield