STOP | Meaning, Definition In Cambridge English Dictionary

Meaning of stop in English stopverb uk /stɒp/ us /stɑːp/ -pp-

stop verb (FINISH)

Add to word list Add to word list A1 [ I or T ] to finish doing something that you were doing: Once I start eating chocolate, I can't stop. [ + -ing verb ] Stop shouting - you're giving me a headache! I couldn't stop laughing. Stop it!/Stop that! to end something or cause it to end

• stopStop pulling your brother's hair this instant!
• quitQuit poking your sister, will you?
• haltWe halted the assembly line to check the equipment.
• discontinueThe lab has discontinued this line of research due to ethical concerns.
• ceaseAll operations at the company will cease, and the assets will be auctioned off.

See more results »  stop with something to stop doing, using, or having something, especially something annoying or not wanted: Stop with the childish games - this is serious! I'm not going there again until they stop with the ridiculous prices. B1 [ I or T ] to not continue to operate: My watch must have stopped. The air conditioner has stopped working. to break down

• break downThe lift has broken down again.
• stop workingI don’t understand it - my phone just stopped working.
• crashWhen a computer crashes, you reboot.
• failThe train’s brakes failed, causing it to derail.

See more results » B1 [ I or T ] to not move any more or to make someone or something not move any more: Stop the car, I want to get out! I heard him shout, "Stop, or I'll shoot!" A1 [ I + -ing verb ] to finish doing something that you do regularly or as a habit: Apparently she's stopped drinking. I stopped seeing him last year. A2 [ I ] to pause for a short time while travelling or during an activity: stop at Does this train stop at Finsbury Park? Why don't you just stop somewhere and ask for directions? [ + to infinitive ] I stopped to pick up a letter that I'd dropped.

• Oh, stop moaning!
• Stop hassling me!
• She stopped speaking for a moment and looked out of the window.
• I couldn't stop crying.
• I've stopped trying to help her.

Causing something to end

• abandon
• abandonment
• all good things (must) come to an end idiom
• and have done with it idiom
• be over the hump idiom
• brake
• cure
• freeze
• get something out of the way idiom
• get something over with phrasal verb
• give over phrasal verb
• grind to a halt idiom
• halt
• slam on the brakes
• snap
• snap out of something phrasal verb
• snuff something out phrasal verb
• stamp
• stamp on something phrasal verb
• stamp something out phrasal verb

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Machines - not functioning Immobility Cancelling and interrupting

stop verb (PREVENT)

B1 [ T ] to prevent someone from doing something: If she really wants to leave, I don't understand what's stopping her. [ + -ing verb ] They've put barriers up to stop people (from) getting through. Something must be done to stop the fighting. to prevent something from happening

• preventVaccination will prevent the spread of the disease.
• avoidLabel the boxes to avoid confusion.
• stopThis should stop any further trouble.
• avertWe had to act quickly to avert disaster.
• prohibitBehavioural problems in the classroom prohibit learning.
• checkChildren are being vaccinated in an attempt to check the spread of the disease.

See more results »  stop a cheque UK (US stop a check, stop payment on a check) to tell your bank not to deal with a cheque that you have written, so that the money is not paid from your bank account: They sent me an email confirming that they had stopped the cheque. See more

• I can't stop her from seeing him.
• My mum stopped me from going.
• Health workers are trying to stop the disease from spreading.
• We are doing everything we can to stop the situation from getting worse.
• If he really wants to do it I can't stop him.

Preventing and impeding

• anti-drug
• anti-jamming
• avoid
• avoidable
• avoidably
• flameproof
• guard against something phrasal verb
• hamper
• hang
• have someone/something hanging round your neck idiom
• head off phrasal verb
• pinch point
• pre-emption
• preclude
• preclusion
• preclusive
• scuttle
• smother
• stifle
• suffocate

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stop verb (STAY)

[ I ] UK to stay in a place: Are you coming with me or are you stopping here? I can't stop - Marc is waiting for me outside. Now that you're here, why don't you stop for some tea?stop in I've been out every night this week, so I thought I'd stop in (= stay at home) tonight.stop up We stopped up (= did not go to bed) until two o'clock last night watching the late film.

• After stopping for a quick drink, they continued on their way.
• She ambled down the street, stopping occasionally to look in the shop windows.
• I won't stop - I'm in a bit of a rush.
• Shall we stop here for a while?
• We're hoping to make up time on the return journey by not stopping at night.

Staying and remaining

• abrupt halt
• be left phrase
• closeted
• halt
• hang
• non-migrant
• non-rotating
• non-tenured
• outstay
• overstay
• sit
• spot
• stay behind phrasal verb
• stay in phrasal verb
• stay on phrasal verb
• stay put idiom
• stick
• stick around phrasal verb
• sticky
• wait something out phrasal verb

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stop verb (BLOCK)

[ T ] to block a hole: stop something (up) We stopped (up) the gap with some rags. Closing and blocking

• barricade
• batten
• batten down the hatches idiom
• be snowed up idiom
• block something off phrasal verb
• bung
• choke
• closet
• closing
• closing time
• congest
• cork
• dam
• fur
• reseal
• sandbag
• seal something in phrasal verb
• seal something off phrasal verb
• self-seal
• silt

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stop verb (BEAT)

[ T ] to beat an opponent in a boxing match because the referee decides that your opponent cannot continue because they are injured or have been knocked down too many times: He retained his WBA title after stopping the American in the ninth round.

• Harrison stopped Estrada in round five to retain his featherweight title.
• She was stopped in the tenth round of a return contest in New York City.

Fighting sports

• aikido
• all-in wrestling
• arm wrestling
• armlock
• bantamweight
• gumshield
• half nelson
• hammerlock
• hanbo
• hapkido
• pugilist
• pugilistic
• punchbag
• puncher
• punching bag
• wrestle
• wrestling
• wrist wrestling
• wristlock
• wushu

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stop verb (MUSIC)

[ T ]   music   specialized If you stop a string on a musical instrument, you put your finger on it to change the sound: A violin has no frets to stop the strings. Bowing or plucking an open string gives a different sound from a stopped string. Musical instruments

• accordion
• acoustic guitar
• acoustically
• aeolian harp
• aerophone
• double bass
• double bassoon
• double reed
• double-stop
• double-tongue
• membranophone
• metallophone
• metronome
• monophonic
• monophonically
• tailpiece
• tam-tam
• tambourine
• tenor flute
• tenor saxophone

See more results »

Grammar

Stop + -ing form or to-infinitiveWe use the -ing form after stop to indicate that an action or event is no longer continuing: …

Idioms

stop at nothing stop short of something

Phrasal verbs

stop by (somewhere) stop in stop off somewhere stop over stopnoun [ C ] uk /stɒp/ us /stɑːp/

stop noun [C] (NOT CONTINUING)

B1 the act of stopping an activity or journey, or a period of time when you stop: come to a stop Please remain in your seat until the plane comes to a complete stop. We'd have been here sooner, but we made several stops along the way.stop and starts At the beginning of the project there were a lot of stops and starts. See also doorstop A1 a place where vehicles, especially buses, stop in order to allow passengers to get off and on: bus stop They waited at the bus stop, shivering with cold. I'm getting off at the next stop. Is this our stop (= where we must get off)?   Carola Kohler/Corbis/GettyImages put a stop to something C1 to stop an unpleasant, unwanted activity or habit from continuing: He used to smoke in bed when I first got to know him, but I soon put a stop to that! See more

• The car came to a stop in front of an old cottage.
• We had a stop halfway through the journey and got some food.
• We made a couple of stops on the way so that Milly could go to the toilet.
• Is this your stop?
• We had an overnight stop in Singapore.

Pauses & interludes

• abeyance
• adjournment
• asynchronously
• break time
• break-journey
• comfort stop
• hiatus
• hold something in abeyance
• in abeyance
• interlude
• intermission
• interval
• lull
• moratorium
• non-continuous
• one-stop
• pause
• plateau
• stoppage
• suspension

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Train & bus stations & taxi ranks

stop noun [C] (LANGUAGE)

UK short form of full stop UK phonetics   specialized a plosive (= consonant that is made by completely stopping the flow of air) Punctuation

• abbreviate
• abbreviated
• acute
• ampersand
• asterism
• at sign
• bracket
• caron
• colon
• curly bracket
• hyphen
• parenthesis
• punctuate
• quote mark
• repunctuation
• round bracket
• scare quotes
• slash
• small capitals
• stress mark

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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Linguistics: phonology & phonetics

stop noun [C] (MUSIC)

music   specialized on an organ (= a large musical instrument with a keyboard and pipes), one of the small, round objects on the side of the instrument that you push or pull to control the sound that comes out: He drew on the full resources of the organ's keyboards, stops, and pedals. There's a very low stop on the organ called a 32-foot sub bass. Musical instruments

• accordion
• acoustic guitar
• acoustically
• aeolian harp
• aerophone
• double bass
• double bassoon
• double reed
• double-stop
• double-tongue
• membranophone
• metallophone
• metronome
• monophonic
• monophonically
• tailpiece
• tam-tam
• tambourine
• tenor flute
• tenor saxophone

See more results » (Definition of stop from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

stop | American Dictionary

stopverb us /stɑp/ -pp-

stop verb (FINISH)

Add to word list Add to word list [ I/T ] to finish doing something or end, or to cause someone or something to finish: [ I ] When do you think the snow will stop? [ T ] When will it stop snowing? [ T ] Please stop pushing. [ T ] Fortunately, police stopped the fight before anyone got hurt.

stop verb (PREVENT)

[ T ] to prevent someone from doing something: Lifeguards stopped them from going into the water because sharks had been spotted in the area.

stop verb (PAUSE)

[ I/T ] to pause or stay in a place, or cause someone to pause: [ I ] We stopped for gas and had something to eat. [ + to infinitive ] We’d better stop at the next rest area to let the kids go to the bathroom. [ T ] Naomi was stopped at the gate and asked to show identification.

Idioms

stop on a dime stop (dead) in your tracks

Phrasal verbs

stop by/in/off stop over stopnoun [ C ] us /stɑp/

stop noun [C] (SHORT STAY)

a short period of time when you stay at a place, or the place where you stay: It was a five-hour drive including a 30-minute stop for lunch. A stop is a place where a bus or train pauses to allow passengers to get off and on: I’m getting off at the next stop.

stop noun [C] (FINISH)

the act of stopping an activity, or the state in which someone or something is not moving or active anymore: Please wait until the plane comes to a complete stop before leaving your seat. (Definition of stop from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

stop | Business English

stopverb uk /stɒp/ us -pp- Add to word list Add to word list [ I or T ] to prevent something from happening or continuing, or to not continue to happen: Are these new environmental laws enough to stop climate change? The government demanded that the payments stop.stop production/publication/trading The board obtained an injunction to stop publication of the documents.stop sb (from) doing sth To stop borrowers switching to another lender once the discount period is over, banks apply a hefty charge. [ T ] to finish doing something: The company's flexible pension plan allows women to suspend contributions if they stop work to have a family.stop doing sth The economic climate pressured banks to stop lending to each other. [ I or T ] if something such as a machine or system stops, it no longer works and needs to be repaired: I didn't realize the time because my watch has stopped. My TV came with a free radio which has stopped working.  stop a cheque UK ( US stop payment on a check) BANKING to tell your bank not to pay the money relating to a cheque you have written to someone

Phrasal verbs

stop by stop off stop over stopnoun [ S ]   BANKING uk /stɒp/ us an instruction to a bank or other financial organization to not pay any money from your account when a cheque, card, etc. is used: Banks do not normally charge for putting a stop on lost cheques.  come to a stop to stop happening: At one point mail deliveries just came to a stop.  put a stop to sth to stop something bad from happening or continuing: EU regulation has put a stop to huge roaming charges when you use your mobile phone abroad.

See also

non-stop one-stop (Definition of stop from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press) What is the pronunciation of stop?

Translations of stop

in Chinese (Traditional) 完成, （使）停止, （使）停下… See more in Chinese (Simplified) 完成, （使）停止, （使）停下… See more in Spanish parar, dejar de, pararse… See more in Portuguese parar, deixar, impedir… See more in Marathi in Japanese in Turkish in French in Catalan in Dutch in Tamil in Hindi in Gujarati in Danish in Swedish in Malay in German in Norwegian in Urdu in Ukrainian in Telugu in Bengali in Czech in Indonesian in Thai in Vietnamese in Polish in Korean in Italian थांबवणे, बंद पडणे, सोडणे… See more ～をやめる, （乗り物が）停車する, 立ち止まる… See more durmak, bırakmak, bitirmek… See more arrêter, cesser, empêcher… See more parar, deixar de, aturar(-se)… See more stoppen, tegenhouden, ophouden… See more நீங்கள் செய்து கொண்டிருந்த ஒன்றைச் செய்து முடிக்க, தொடர்ந்து செயல்படக்கூடாது, இனி நகரக்கூடாது அல்லது யாரையாவது அல்லது எதையாவது இனி நகர்த்தக்கூடாது… See more रोकना, बंद करना, काम बंद करना… See more બંધ કરવું, રોકવું, કામ કરતું બંધ થઈ જવું… See more stoppe, standse, holde op… See more stanna, stoppa, hejda… See more berhenti, halang, tutup… See more anhalten, zurückhalten, aufhören… See more stoppe, stanse, slutte… See more کسی کام کر کرنے سےرکنا, روکنا, بند کرنا… See more зупиняти(ся), зупиняти, стримувати… See more ఆపు/ఆగు, ఆగిపోవడం, ఆగడం… See more থামা, আপনি যা করছেন তা শেষ করতে, কাজ করা বন্ধ হয়ে যাওয়া… See more zastavit (se), zabránit, přestat… See more menghentikan, mencegah, berhenti… See more หยุด, ระงับ, เลิก… See more dừng, ngừng lại, chặn… See more przestawać, zatrzymywać się, zatrzymywać (się)… See more 멈추다, 서다, 잠시 멈추다… See more fermarsi, smettere, (far) fermare… See more Need a translator?

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stoop ball stoop to something phrasal verb stooped stooping stop stop (dead) in your tracks idiom stop a cheque phrase stop and search stop at nothing idiom {{#randomImageQuizHook.filename}} {{#randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} Test your vocabulary with our fun image quizzes Try a quiz now {{/randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{^randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{/randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{/randomImageQuizHook.filename}}

More meanings of stop

• full stop
• pit stop
• rest area
• stop sign
• truck stop
• f-stop
• stop-go

See all meanings

• stop by/in/off phrasal verb
• stop over phrasal verb
• stop by phrasal verb
• stop by (somewhere) phrasal verb
• stop in phrasal verb
• stop off phrasal verb
• stop off somewhere phrasal verb

See all phrasal verb meanings

• stop (dead) in your tracks idiom
• stop on a dime idiom
• stop traffic idiom
• stop a cheque phrase
• stop the rot idiom
• put a stop to something phrase
• stop at nothing idiom

See all idioms and phrases

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UK /ɪˈpɪf.ən.i/ US /ɪˈpɪf.ən.i/

a moment when you suddenly feel that you understand, or suddenly become conscious of, something that is very important to you

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• English   
  • Verb 
    • stop (FINISH)
    • stop with something
    • stop (PREVENT)
    • stop a cheque
    • stop (STAY)
    • stop (BLOCK)
    • stop (BEAT)
    • stop (MUSIC)
  • Noun 
    • stop (NOT CONTINUING)
    • put a stop to something
    • stop (LANGUAGE)
    • stop (MUSIC)
• American   
  • Verb 
    • stop (FINISH)
    • stop (PREVENT)
    • stop (PAUSE)
  • Noun 
    • stop (SHORT STAY)
    • stop (FINISH)
• Business   
  • Verb 
    • stop
    • stop a cheque
  • Noun 
    • stop
    • come to a stop
    • put a stop to sth

• Translations
• Grammar
• All translations

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