pausing

Pluralpausings

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of pause.

   The speaker's habit of pausing between points gave the audience time to think.

   Pausing the recording, she jotted down a quick note.

   Note

   One spelling does two jobs here: the participle in she is pausing, and the gerund that names the act, as in pausing between points. Both keep the verb's split between intransitive uses (pausing for breath) and transitive ones, where an object follows: pausing the recording, pausing the game. The gerund can still take that object, while the true noun takes adjectives and a plural instead.

2. 2
   nouncountable or uncountable

   A temporary stop or break in activity, speech, or motion.

   After some pausing, the orchestra resumed the symphony.

   His constant pausing made the negotiation drag late into the night.

   Similarhesitation, stopping, halting

   Note

   A noun in its own right, not just the verb at work. It takes adjectives (constant pausing) and can stand uncounted for stopping in general. It also forms a plural for separate breaks: John Lightfoot's The Temple-Service (c. 1650) describes three soundings at the three pausings of the music. There the plural marks distinct rests within a single performance.

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