# stop

Pronunciation: say "STOP" US /stɑp/, UK /stɒp/

## Verb

1. To no longer do something, or (of an action, process, or condition) to come to an end; to cease.
   - Simple: To not do something any more, as in stop smoking, or to come to an end, as when the rain stops.
   - _Doctors urge smokers to stop smoking entirely._
   - _She stopped her work to answer the phone._
2. To make something end, or to prevent someone or something from doing or continuing something.
   - Simple: To make something end, or to keep someone from doing something, as in 'stop the war'.
   - _Security guards stop visitors from entering after hours._
   - _A sudden noise stopped the children mid-game._
3. To come to rest after moving, or to bring someone or something to a halt so that it no longer moves or makes progress.
   - Simple: To stop moving, or to make someone or something stop moving, as when police stop a car.
   - _The hikers stop to catch their breath at the summit._
   - _A deer stopped in the middle of the road and stared into our headlights._
5. To stay or remain somewhere temporarily; to lodge for a short time.
   - Simple: To stay somewhere for a short time.
   - _Travelers often stop a night or two here on their way north._
   - _She stopped with friends until the storm passed._
8. To close or block up an opening so that nothing can pass through it.
   - Simple: To close or block a hole or opening so nothing passes through.
   - _Before winter we stop up the gaps around the old window with putty._
   - _He stopped his ears against the deafening noise._
15. To pronounce a speech sound as a stop, that is, by briefly blocking the airflow completely.
   - Simple: In speech, to say a sound by fully blocking the air for a moment, like a 'p' or 't'.
   - _The speech therapist noticed that he stops the 'z' sound, so 'zoo' comes out closer to 'doo.'_
   - _He tends to stop the final consonant rather than letting it hiss._
18. To control the pitch of a string by pressing it against the fingerboard or otherwise shortening the part that vibrates.
   - Simple: In music, to press a string against the neck of an instrument to make a higher note.
   - _Cellists stop a string against the fingerboard to raise its pitch._
   - _To play the higher note, she stopped the string with her first finger just behind the fret._
21. To adjust the aperture of a camera lens, changing how much light it admits.
   - Simple: In photography, to change how wide a camera lens opens to let in light.
   - _She stopped the lens down to f/11 to bring the whole scene into focus._
   - _Photographers often stop down in bright light to avoid overexposure._
24. To agree now on the price of a stock while deferring its actual purchase or sale until later.
   - Simple: In trading, to put off buying or selling a stock while fixing its price for later.

## Noun

4. A place, usually marked and typically smaller than a station, at which buses, trams, or trains pause for passengers to board and leave.
   - Simple: A marked place where a bus or train waits so people can get on and off.
   - _The driver skipped our stop because no one rang the bell._
   - _Three new stops were added along the tram line._
6. Any of a series of places visited on a trip, tour or circuit, or an event held at one of them.
   - Simple: One of several places you visit on a trip or tour, or an event held at one of them.
   - _The Chicago stop sold out within minutes of tickets going on sale._
   - _Kyoto and Osaka were the last two stops on their month-long trip to Japan._
7. An act of stopping; a break or interruption in travel.
   - Simple: A short break in a trip, or the act of stopping.
   - _Our flight included a two-hour stop in Chicago._
   - _After several stops, the bus finally reached the city._
9. A punctuation mark, especially a full stop; also the word written for a full stop in telegrams.
   - Simple: A punctuation mark, especially a period, or the word used for a period in old telegrams.
   - _The editor marked every missing full stop in the manuscript._
   - _The wire arrived an hour later: SHIP DELAYED STOP WILL CABLE AGAIN FROM LISBON._
11. A save in soccer or a similar game that prevents the opposing team from scoring a goal.
   - Simple: In soccer, a save that keeps the other team from scoring.
   - _The keeper's reflex stop denied a certain goal in stoppage time._
   - _Two crucial stops in the second half earned the goalkeeper man of the match._
12. A device or part (such as a pin, block, or pawl) that arrests or limits motion, or sets the position another part is brought to.
   - Simple: A part, like a pin or block, that stops or limits how far something moves.
   - _The lathe's stop sets exactly where the cutting tool halts._
   - _Adjustable stops let the operator repeat the same cut every time._
13. A strip of wood or molding fixed to a jamb that a door or window closes against.
   - Simple: A small strip fixed to a door frame that the door presses against when it shuts.
   - _He pried off the old stop before rehanging the heavier door._
   - _The window rattled because its stop had worked loose from the jamb._
14. A consonant sound produced when the flow of air is briefly blocked by the lips, tongue, or glottis.
   - Simple: A speech sound made by briefly blocking the air completely with your lips, tongue, or throat.
   - _English has several stops, including the sounds written p, t, and k._
   - _A glottal stop replaces the 't' in some pronunciations of 'button.'_
16. On an organ, a knob or lever that lets air into a particular set of pipes, or that set of pipes itself.
   - Simple: On an organ, a knob you pull to let air into a set of pipes, or that set of pipes.
   - _The organist drew a reed stop for the final hymn._
   - _Several stops control the brighter ranks of pipes._
17. A finger-hole on a wind instrument, or a point on a string, where covering or pressing produces a particular note.
   - Simple: On a wind or string instrument, a hole or spot you cover or press to play a certain note.
19. In a camera or other optical instrument, a diaphragm or plate with an opening that limits or cuts off part of the light passing through the lens.
   - Simple: A part inside a camera or microscope that blocks some of the light passing through the lens.
   - _On sunny days, he slid a brass stop into the old lens to let in less light._
   - _Designers added a stop to limit how much light flooded the sensor._
20. In photography, a step of exposure that doubles or halves the light, or an aperture setting of a lens (an f-stop).
   - Simple: In photography, one step that doubles or halves the light a camera lets in, or a lens opening setting like f/8.
   - _Bumping the exposure up two stops rescued the shadowed foreground._
   - _She bracketed the shot a stop over and a stop under the meter reading._
22. A very short tennis shot that lands close behind the net and is meant to bounce as little as possible.
   - Simple: In tennis, a soft, short shot that lands just past the net and barely bounces.
   - _He came in behind his serve and ended the point with a soft stop volley._
   - _Her stop volleys kept pulling the baseliner forward all match._
23. The dip in a dog's face between the skull and the nasal bones, where the forehead meets the muzzle.
   - Simple: On a dog's face, the dip between the forehead and the muzzle, near the eyes.
   - _Judges noted the bulldog's pronounced stop during the show._
   - _The breed standard calls for a shallow stop and a long muzzle._

## Noun

10. Something that stops, blocks, or hinders; an obstacle or impediment. *(dated)*
   - Simple: Something that blocks the way or gets in the way.

## Other meanings

- (verb) To add commas, periods, and other marks to a piece of writing.
- (verb) To fasten something in place on a ship, especially with a short length of rope.
- (noun) A patch of color on the back foot of a rabbit, judged in show breeds.
- (noun) In fencing, a counterattack made into an opponent's attack to cut it short.
- (noun) A small pail, such as one used to draw water from a well or to hold milk.
- (noun) The hypothetical supersymmetric partner of the top quark, a kind of squark.

## Origin

From Middle English stoppen, from Old English stoppian ('to stop, close'), from Proto-West Germanic, and probably from Proto-Germanic roots meaning 'to stop, close' or 'to push, pierce', ultimately from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning 'to push' or 'strike'. It is related to Dutch stoppen and German stopfen. An alternative derivation from an assumed Vulgar Latin word for 'to stop up with tow' (from Ancient Greek στύπη 'flax, oakum') is considered doubtful, since the earliest Germanic uses did not carry that 'stuff, stop with tow' sense.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/stop (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).