pause
see also: Pause
Pronunciation Verb

pause (pauses, present participle pausing; past and past participle paused)

  1. (intransitive) To take a temporary rest, take a break for a short period after an effort.
  2. (intransitive) To interrupt an activity and wait.
    When telling the scary story, he paused for effect.
    • c. 1596–1598, William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act III, scene ii]:
      Tarry, pause a day or two.
    • 1667, John Milton, “Book 9”, in Paradise Lost. A Poem Written in Ten Books, London: Printed [by Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […] [a]nd by Robert Boulter […] [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], OCLC 228722708 ↗; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: The Text Exactly Reproduced from the First Edition of 1667: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554 ↗:
      pausing a while thus to herself she mused
  3. (intransitive) To hesitate; to hold back; to delay.
    • c. 1596–1598, William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act IV, scene i]:
      Why doth the Jew pause? Take thy forfeiture.
  4. (transitive) 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
  5. (intransitive, obsolete) To consider; to reflect.
    • c. 1595–1596, William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act I, scene i]:
      Take time to pause.
Translations Translations Translations Noun

pause (plural pauses)

  1. A temporary stop or rest; an intermission of action; interruption; suspension; cessation.
  2. A short time for relaxing and doing something else.
  3. Hesitation; suspense; doubt.
    • c. 1599–1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act III, scene iii]:
      I stand in pause where I shall first begin.
  4. 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.
  5. A break or paragraph in writing.
    • a. 1705, [John Locke], “[(please specify the title)]”, in A Paraphrase and Notes on the Epistles of St. Paul […], London: […] Awnsham and John Churchill, […], published 17, OCLC 1153704013 ↗:
      He writes with warmth, which usually neglects method, and those partitions and pauses which men educated in schools observe.
  6. (music) A sign indicating continuance of a note or rest.
  7. Alternative spelling of Pause
  8. (as direct object) take pause: hesitate; give pause: cause to hesitate
Synonyms Translations
Pause
Noun

pause (plural pauses)

  1. A button whose functions are pausing and resuming something, such as a DVD player, a video game or a computer.



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