Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Pause

Pause

(pa̤z)
,
Noun.
[F., fr. L.
pausa
. See
Pose
.]
1.
A temporary stop or rest; an intermission of action; interruption; suspension; cessation.
2.
Temporary inaction or waiting; hesitation; suspence; doubt.
I stand in
pause
where I shall first begin.
Shakespeare
3.
In speaking or reading aloud, a brief arrest or suspension of voice, to indicate the limits and relations of sentences and their parts.
4.
In writing and printing, a mark indicating the place and nature of an arrest of voice in reading; a punctuation point;
as, teach the pupil to mind the
pauses
.
5.
A break or paragraph in writing.
He writes with warmth, which usually neglects method, and those partitions and
pauses
which men educated in schools observe.
Locke.
6.
(Mus.)
A hold. See 4th
Hold
, 7.
Syn. – Stop; cessation; suspension.

Pause

,
Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Paused
(pa̤zd)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Pausing
.]
[Cf. F.
pauser
, L.
pausare
. See
Pause
,
Noun.
,
Pose
.]
1.
To make a short stop; to cease for a time; to intermit speaking or acting; to stop; to wait; to rest.
“Tarry, pause a day or two.”
Shak.
Pausing
a while, thus to herself she mused.
Milton.
2.
To be intermitted; to cease;
as, the music
pauses
.
3.
To hesitate; to hold back; to delay.
[R.]
Why doth the Jew
pause
? Take thy forfeiture.
Shakespeare
4.
To stop in order to consider; hence, to consider; to reflect.
[R.]
“Take time to pause.”
Shak.
To pause upon
,
to deliberate concerning.
Shak.
Syn. – To intermit; stop; stay; wait; delay; tarry; hesitate; demur.

Pause

,
Verb.
T.
To cause to stop or rest; – used reflexively.
[R.]
Shak.

Webster 1828 Edition


Pause

PAUSE

,
Noun.
paux. [L. pausa; Gr. to cease, or cause to rest.]
1.
A stop; a cessation or intermission of action, of speaking, singing, playing or the like; a temporary stop or rest.
2.
Cessation proceeding from doubt; suspense.
I stand in pause where I shall first begin.
3.
Break or paragraph in writing.
4.
A temporary cessation in reading. The use of punctuation is to mark the pauses in writing. In verse, there are two kinds of pauses, the cesural and the final. The cesural pause divides the verse; the final pause closes it. The pauses which mark the sense, and which may be called sentential, are the same in prose and verse.
5.
A mark of cessation or intermission of the voice; a point.

PAUSE

,
Verb.
I.
pauz. To make a short stop; to cease to speak for a time; to intermit speaking or action.
Pausing a while, thus to herself she mused.
1.
To stop; to wait; to forbear for a time.
Tarry, pause a day or two,
Before you hazard.
2.
To be intermitted. The music pauses.
To pause upon, to deliberate.

Definition 2024


Pause

Pause

See also: pause, pausé, and -pause

English

A Sega Master System III console with a round white Pause button on the left.
The Pause key of a keyboard, among various other keys.

Alternative forms

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.

German

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈpaʊ̯zə/, [ˈpaʊ̯zə]

Noun

Pause f (genitive Pause, plural Pausen, diminutive Päuschen n)

  1. pause, break

Declension

Derived terms

pause

pause

See also: Pause, pausé, and -pause

English

Verb

pause (third-person singular simple present pauses, present participle pausing, simple past and past participle paused)

  1. (intransitive) To interrupt an activity and wait.
    When telling the scary story, he paused for effect.
    • William Shakespeare (c.1564–1616)
      Tarry, pause a day or two.
    • John Milton (1608-1674)
      pausing while thus to herself she mused
    • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 15, in The China Governess:
      She paused and took a defiant breath. ‘If you don't believe me, I can't help it. But I'm not a liar.’ ¶ ‘No,’ said Luke, grinning at her. ‘You're not dull enough! [] What about the kid's clothes? I don't suppose they were anything to write home about, but didn't you keep anything? A bootee or a bit of embroidery or anything at all?’
  2. (intransitive) To hesitate; to hold back; to delay.
  3. (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
  4. (intransitive, obsolete) To consider; to reflect.

Translations

Noun

pause (plural pauses)

  1. A temporary stop or rest; an intermission of action; interruption; suspension; cessation.
    • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 23, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
      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. He would stand leaning on a stick and holding a hand to his side, and when the paroxysm had passed it left him shaking.
  2. A short time for relaxing and doing something else.
  3. Hesitation; suspense; doubt.
  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.
    • John Locke (1632-1705)
      He writes with warmth, which usually neglects method, and those partitions and pauses which men educated in schools observe.
  6. Alternative spelling of Pause (a button that pauses or resumes something)
  7. (as direct object) take pause: hesitate; give pause: cause to hesitate

Derived terms

Translations


French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin pausa.

Pronunciation

Noun

pause f (plural pauses)

  1. pause, break
  2. (music) rest

Italian

Noun

pause f

  1. plural of pausa

Middle French

Etymology

Borrowing from Latin pausa.

Noun

pause f (plural pauses)

  1. pause (brief cessation)

Descendants

References


Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Latin pausa, from Ancient Greek παύω (paúō, stop).

Noun

pause m (definite singular pausen, indefinite plural pauser, definite plural pausene)

  1. a pause, a break (short time for relaxing)

Derived terms

References


Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Latin pausa, from Ancient Greek παύω (paúō, stop).

Noun

pause m (definite singular pausen, indefinite plural pausar, definite plural pausane)

  1. a pause or break (short time for relaxing)

Derived terms

References


Portuguese

Verb

pause

  1. first-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of pausar
  2. third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) present subjunctive of pausar
  3. third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of pausar
  4. third-person singular (você) negative imperative of pausar

Spanish

Verb

pause

  1. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of pausar.
  2. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of pausar.
  3. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted?) present subjunctive form of pausar.