# suspend

Pronunciation: US say "suh-SPEND" /səsˈpɛnd/; UK

## Verb

1. To halt an activity or process for a time, with the intention of resuming it later.
   - Simple: To stop something for a while, with the plan to start it again later.
   - _The referee suspended play when the rain became too heavy._
   - _Lawmakers voted to suspend the new rule while they studied its effects._
2. To break off or interrupt an ongoing function, task, role, or event.
   - Simple: To break off something such as a task, job, or event before it is finished.
   - _The board voted to suspend trading after the sharp drop in prices._
   - _The system suspends background tasks when the battery runs low._
3. To bar someone temporarily from a privilege, office, or source of income, usually as a penalty.
   - Simple: To stop someone from doing their job, going to school, or using a right for a time.
   - _The league voted to suspend the player for three games._
   - _Authorities suspended the doctor's license pending an investigation._
4. To hang something freely so that it dangles from above with nothing supporting it below.
   - Simple: To hang something so it dangles down freely from a fixed point above.
   - _Workers suspend the bridge deck from massive steel cables._
   - _The artist suspended dozens of paper birds from the gallery ceiling._
5. To keep something in an unsettled or undecided state, neither resolved nor dismissed.
   - Simple: To leave something undecided or on hold for now.
   - _Good readers suspend disbelief to enjoy a fantasy novel._
   - _She suspended judgment until all the facts were in._
6. To disperse a solid, usually a powder, throughout a liquid so its particles stay distributed rather than settling.
   - Simple: To mix a solid powder into a liquid so it floats throughout instead of sinking.
   - _Manufacturers suspend pigment in the base to give the paint its color._
   - _The technician suspended the powdered drug in a sterile solution._
7. To keep an insoluble powder dispersed through a liquid by stirring, in order to assist a chemical reaction.
   - Simple: To keep a powder spread through a liquid by stirring, so a chemical change can happen.
   - _Chemists suspend the insoluble reagent by stirring it continuously during the process._
   - _She suspended the metal powder in the acid, stirring to speed the reaction._
8. To void the value of an unused coupon on an air ticket, typically to permit travel on the following segments.
   - Simple: To cancel the unused part of a plane ticket so the rest of the trip can still be used.
   - _The airline agreed to suspend the coupon so the passenger could continue to the final destination._
   - _Staff suspended the unused sector and reissued the onward portion of the ticket._

## Verb

9. To cause one thing to depend or be contingent upon another. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To make one thing rely or depend on another.
   - _Ancient writers would suspend the soul's fate upon the conduct of one's life._
   - _He suspended his entire argument upon a single disputed premise._

## Origin

From Old French "sospendre", which comes from Latin "suspendere".

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