Suspension Definition & Meaning

American

British

Scientific

Usage

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Examples

Related Words

Synonyms suspension American [suh-spen-shuhn] / səˈspɛn ʃən /

noun

1. the act of suspending.

   Synonyms: hiatus, abeyance, cessation, discontinuance, interruption, intermission

2. the state of being suspended.

   Synonyms: hiatus, abeyance, cessation, discontinuance, interruption, intermission

3. temporary abrogation or withholding, as of a law, privilege, decision, belief, etc.

   Synonyms: hiatus, abeyance, cessation, discontinuance, interruption, intermission

4. stoppage of payment of debts or claims because of financial inability or insolvency.

5. Chemistry.

   1. the state in which the particles of a substance are mixed with a fluid but are undissolved.

   2. a substance in such a state.

6. Physical Chemistry. a system consisting of small particles kept dispersed by agitation mechanical suspension or by the molecular motion in the surrounding medium colloidal suspension.

7. something on or by which something else is suspended or hung.

8. something that is suspended or hung.

9. Also called suspension system. the arrangement of springs, shock absorbers, hangers, etc., in an automobile, railway car, etc., connecting the wheel-suspension units or axles to the chassis frame.

10. Electricity. a wire, filament, or group of wires by which the conducting part of an instrument or device is suspended.

11. Music.

    1. the prolongation of a tone in one chord into the following chord, usually producing a temporary dissonance.

    2. the tone so prolonged.

12. Rhetoric. the heightening of interest by delay of the main subject or clause, especially by means of a series of parallel preceding elements.

suspension British / səˈspɛnʃən /

noun

1. an interruption or temporary revocation

   the suspension of a law

2. a temporary debarment, as from position, privilege, etc

3. a deferment, esp of a decision, judgment, etc

4. law

   1. a postponement of execution of a sentence or the deferring of a judgment, etc

   2. a temporary extinguishment of a right or title

5. cessation of payment of business debts, esp as a result of insolvency

6. the act of suspending or the state of being suspended

7. a system of springs, shock absorbers, etc, that supports the body of a wheeled or tracked vehicle and insulates it and its occupants from shocks transmitted by the wheels See also hydraulic suspension

8. a device or structure, usually a wire or spring, that serves to suspend or support something, such as the pendulum of a clock

9. chem a dispersion of fine solid or liquid particles in a fluid, the particles being supported by buoyancy See also colloid

10. the process by which eroded particles of rock are transported in a river

11. music one or more notes of a chord that are prolonged until a subsequent chord is sounded, usually to form a dissonance

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012 suspension Scientific / sə-spĕn′shən /

1. A mixture in which small particles of a substance are dispersed throughout a gas or liquid. If a suspension is left undisturbed, the particles are likely to settle to the bottom. The particles in a suspension are larger than those in either a colloid or a solution. Muddy water is an example of a suspension.

2. Compare colloid solution

Usage

What does suspension mean? Suspension most commonly means a stoppage or withholding of something, especially a temporary one, as in The parade requires a temporary suspension of traffic. Suspension is the noun form of the verb suspend. The most common and general meanings of suspend are to hang something by attaching it to something else, to cause to stop, to bring to a stop, or to postpone. Most meanings of suspension are based on these meanings of suspend in some way.Suspension has several specific meanings.It can refer to an official punishment of someone, such as an employee, student, or athlete, in which they are not allowed to participate in an activity for a certain period of time, as in He is serving a five-game suspension for fighting. A person is said to serve a suspension (much like how a person is said to serve a prison sentence). A person serving a suspension is said to be suspended.In cars and some other vehicles, the suspension (or suspension system) is the collective system (of parts like springs and shock absorbers) that supports the body of the vehicle and is intended to reduce the amount of bumpiness being transmitted from the wheels to the rest of the vehicle.In chemistry, suspension most commonly refers to a liquid or other substance in which solid particles are mixed but not dissolved—muddy water is a basic example.

Other Word Forms

• nonsuspension noun
• presuspension noun
• resuspension noun

Etymology

Origin of suspension

1520–30; < Latin suspēnsiōn- (stem of suspēnsiō ), equivalent to suspēns ( us ) ( suspense ) + -iōn- -ion

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Violations could result in $1,000 daily fines and suspension of a business’s license.

From The Wall Street Journal

The team’s coaches and equipment manager were slapped with lengthy suspensions.

From The Wall Street Journal

Japan will switch the world's largest nuclear power plant back on next week, after a glitch with an alarm forced the suspension of its first restart since the 2011 Fukushima disaster.

From Barron's

The centerpiece of her campaign is a temporary suspension in the consumption tax on food.

From The Wall Street Journal

Then we craned our necks to see the magnificent arch of the suspension bridge spanning the Volta.

From Literature

Related Words

• break
• freeze
• halt
• interruption
• layoff
• moratorium
• period
• postponement
• stoppage
• termination

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.