pause

Study(28)

/pɔːz/

noun 6verb 5intj 1

Collocations

(noun.)

ADJ

brief, momentary, short, slight, small | long, prolonged | frequent | awkward | pregnant

VERB + PAUSE

take

During the long meeting, the manager decided to take a pause and let everyone grab some coffee.

PAUSE + VERB

After a long pause, an awkward silence followed until someone finally spoke.

PAUSE + NOUN

button (on a video recorder, etc.)

PREP

after a/the ~

She smiled and continued speaking after a brief pause.

in a/the ~

She took a deep breath in the pause before answering the difficult question.

with a/ the ~

She spoke with a pause between each sentence to let the information sink in.

without a/the ~

The speaker talked for an hour without a pause, leaving no time for questions.

~ before

She took a deep breath and pause before answering the difficult question.

~ between

She took a deep breath in the pause between finishing her presentation and answering questions.

~ for

The teacher made a pause for effect before announcing the test results to the class.

~ in

She took a sip of water during the pause in the meeting before answering the difficult question.

(verb.)

ADV

briefly, (for) a moment, (for) an instant, momentarily

He paused briefly to check his phone before continuing with his work.

barely, hardly

She talked so much during the meeting that she hardly paused to listen to anyone else.

deliberately

He deliberately paused before answering the difficult question.

dramatically, impressively, meaningfully, significantly | reflectively, thoughtfully | irresolutely

PHRASES

pause for breath/thought, pause only (long enough) to do sth

He paused for breath after climbing the three flights of stairs to his apartment.

pause to consider/look/reflect/think

She paused to consider the job offer carefully before making her final decision.

without pausing

He answered the question without pausing, as if he had prepared the response in advance.

Definitions

verb

To take a temporary rest, take a break for a short period after an effort.

To stop (an activity) for a while.

The general public could therefore have been forgiven for thinking that work on the new station had stopped. But pausing work on an active construction site of this size is not straightforward.

To interrupt an activity and wait.

When telling the scary story, he paused for effect.

Tarry, pause a day or two.

To hesitate; to hold back; to delay.

Why doth the Jew pause? Take thy forfeiture.

To halt the play or playback of, temporarily, so that it can be resumed from the same point.

to pause a song, a video, or a computer game

Press Start at any time to pause the game.

noun

A temporary stop or rest; an intermission of action; interruption; suspension; cessation.

If the afternoon was fine they strolled together in the park, very slowly, and with pauses to draw breath wherever the ground sloped upward. The slightest effort made the patient cough.

A short time for relaxing and doing something else.

Hesitation; suspense; doubt.

to take pause

to give pause

In writing and printing, a mark indicating the place and nature of an arrest of voice in reading; a punctuation mark.

Teach the pupil to mind the pauses.

A break or paragraph in writing.

He [Paul] is full of the Matter he treats and writes with Warmth, which uſually neglects Method, and thoſe Partitions and Pauſes which Men educated in the Schools of Rhetoricians uſually obſerve.

intj

Used immediately after a statement to indicate that there was no innuendo or homosexual meaning intended, especially when such a meaning is a reasonable interpretation.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

noun — a time interval during which there is a temporary cessation

verb — cease an action temporarily

intermit
break

verb — interrupt temporarily an activity before continuing

hesitate

Antonyms

Idioms & Phrases

give pause

To give somebody cause for concern.

Here is a fact that will give you pause. Many states do not publish the voting records of their legislators.

hit pause

To pause (an activity); stop, terminate.

We need to hit pause on this project for now, and switch gears to the next thing.

Example Bank

The general public could therefore have been forgiven for thinking that work on the new station had stopped. But pausing work on an active construction site of this size is not straightforward.

Wiktionary

When telling the scary story, he paused for effect.

Wiktionary

Tarry, pause a day or two.

Wiktionary

If the afternoon was fine they strolled together in the park, very slowly, and with pauses to draw breath wherever the ground sloped upward. The slightest effort made the patient cough.

Wiktionary

to take pause

Wiktionary

to give pause

Wiktionary

Usage Notes

i Register

In some senses, pause is marked as figuratively, slang. Watch for register when choosing this word.

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