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stop

You need to stop throwing your gum down the kitchen sink because it will stop the drain.

You're familiar with stop as a word meaning "quit moving," the word's original meaning is "to plug up a hole," like when you stop the hole in your bucket with oakum (or napkins). In English, it came to mean "arrest" for any kind of movement. Stop crime! Stop that check! Stop that thief! Stop writing commands with "stop"! A stop can also be a place to rest, and the period at the end of this sentence is a "full stop."

PRIMARY MEANINGS OF: stop

1	v n	have an end, in a temporal, spatial, or quantitative sense; either spatial or metaphorical the event of something ending
2	v n	render unsuitable for passage an obstruction in a pipe or tube
3	n	a mechanical device in a camera that controls size of aperture of the lens
4	n	a punctuation mark (.) placed at the end of a declarative sentence to indicate a full stop or after abbreviations

FULL DEFINITIONS OF: stop

v have an end, in a temporal, spatial, or quantitative sense; either spatial or metaphorical

“Your rights stop where you infringe upon the rights of other”

Synonyms:: cease, end, finish, terminate

Antonyms:: begin, start
have a beginning, in a temporal, spatial, or evaluative sense; begin, start
have a beginning characterized in some specified way; begin
have a beginning, of a temporal event; show more antonyms...

Types:: show 23 types...; hide 23 types...; pass away
go out of existence; lapse
end, at least for a long time; cut out
cease operating; go out
become extinguished; adjourn, break up, recess
close at the end of a session; disappear, vanish
cease to exist; climax, culminate
end, especially to reach a final or climactic stage; run out
become used up; be exhausted; go, run low, run short
to be spent or finished; disappear, go away, vanish
become invisible or unnoticeable; close, conclude
come to a close; come out, turn out
result or end; discontinue
come to or be at an end; break
come to an end; dematerialise, dematerialize
become immaterial; disappear; crown, top
be the culminating event; clear
go away or disappear; bob under
disappear suddenly, as if under the surface of a body of water; eventuate
come out in the end; work out
happen in a certain way, leading to, producing, or resulting in a certain outcome, often well; fizzle, fizzle out, peter out, taper off
end weakly; leave off
come to an end, stop or cease; expire, run out
lose validity

v come to a halt, stop moving

“the car stopped”

“She stopped in front of a store window”

Synonyms:: halt

Antonyms:: get going, go, start
begin or set in motion

Types:: show 11 types...; hide 11 types...; go off
stop running, functioning, or operating; pull up short
stop abruptly; check
stop for a moment, as if out of uncertainty or caution; check
stop in a chase especially when scent is lost; check
abandon the intended prey, turn, and pursue an inferior prey; rein, rein in
stop or slow up one's horse or oneself by or as if by pulling the reins; conk, stall
come to a stop; stall
experience a stall in flight, of airplanes; draw up, haul up, pull up
come to a halt after driving somewhere; brake
stop travelling by applying a brake; settle
come to rest

v cause to stop

“stop a car”

“stop the thief”

Antonyms:: start, start up
get going or set in motion

Types:: show 13 types...; hide 13 types...; check
arrest the motion (of something) abruptly; rein, rein in
stop or check by or as if by a pull at the reins; arrest, halt, hold
cause to stop; bring up
cause to come to a sudden stop; cut
stop filming; flag down
signal to stop; stall
cause an engine to stop; stall
cause an airplane to go into a stall; draw up, pull up
cause (a vehicle) to stop; brake
cause to stop by applying the brakes; halt, stanch, staunch, stem
stop the flow of a liquid; pull
rein in to keep from winning a race; skid
apply a brake or skid to

v put an end to a state or an activity

Synonyms:: cease, discontinue, give up, lay off, quit

Antonyms:: bear on, carry on, continue, preserve, uphold
keep or maintain in unaltered condition; cause to remain or last; continue, go forward, proceed
move ahead; travel onward in time or space; continue, go along, go on, keep, proceed
continue a certain state, condition, or activity; show more antonyms...

Types:: show 11 types...; hide 11 types...; drop, knock off
stop pursuing or acting; leave off
stop using; sign off
cease broadcasting; get off the air; as of radio stations; retire, withdraw
withdraw from active participation; pull the plug
prevent from happening or continuing; close off, shut off
stem the flow of; cheese
used in the imperative (get away, or stop it); call it a day, call it quits
stop doing what one is doing; break
give up; nol.pros., nolle pros, nolle prosequi
drop prosecution of by entering a nolle prosequi in the court records; drop out
withdraw from established society, especially because of disillusion with conventional values

v prevent completion

“stop the project”

Synonyms:: break, break off, discontinue

Types:: show 15 types...; hide 15 types...; fracture
become fractured; bog, bog down
get stuck while doing something; break up, cut off, disrupt, interrupt
make a break in; cut, cut off
cease, stop; punctuate
interrupt periodically; break
interrupt the flow of current in; put aside, put away
turn away from and put aside, perhaps temporarily; break, intermit, pause
cease an action temporarily; barge in, break in, butt in, chime in, chisel in, cut in, put in
break into a conversation; burst in on, burst upon
spring suddenly; heckle
challenge aggressively; come in, inject, interject, interpose, put in, throw in
to insert between other elements; block, jam
interfere with or prevent the reception of signals; stop over
interrupt a trip; take off, take time off
take time off from work; stop working temporarily

Type of:: end, terminate
bring to an end or halt

v interrupt a trip

“we stopped at Aunt Mary's house”

“they stopped for three days in Florence”

Synonyms:: stop over

Types:: call
make a stop in a harbour; lay over, stop over
interrupt a journey temporarily, e.g., overnight

Type of:: break up, cut off, disrupt, interrupt
make a break in

v stop from happening or developing

Synonyms:: block, halt, kibosh

Types:: embargo
prevent commerce; stay
stop a judicial process

Type of:: forbid, foreclose, forestall, preclude, prevent
keep from happening or arising; make impossible

v seize on its way

Synonyms:: intercept

Types:: cut off, cut out
cut off and stop

Type of:: catch, grab, take hold of
take hold of so as to seize or restrain or stop the motion of

v stop and wait, as if awaiting further instructions or developments

Synonyms:: hold on

Type of:: break, interrupt
terminate

v hold back, as of a danger or an enemy; check the expansion or influence of

Synonyms:: arrest, check, contain, hold back, turn back

Types:: cut down, cut out
intercept (a player)

Type of:: defend
be on the defensive; act against an attack

n the event of something ending

“it came to a stop at the bottom of the hill”

Synonyms:: halt

Types:: cessation, surcease
a stopping; stand, standstill, tie-up
an interruption of normal activity; legal separation, separation
(law) the cessation of cohabitation of man and wife (either by mutual agreement or under a court order)

Type of:: conclusion, ending, finish
event whose occurrence ends something

n the act of stopping something

“the third baseman made some remarkable stops”

Synonyms:: stoppage

Types:: stand-down, standdown
(military) a temporary stop of offensive military action; haemostasia, haemostasis, hemostasia, hemostasis
surgical procedure of stopping the flow of blood (as with a hemostat)

Type of:: act, deed, human action, human activity
something that people do or cause to happen

n a spot where something halts or pauses

“his next stop is Atlanta”

Types:: show 4 types...; hide 4 types...; bus stop
a place on a bus route where buses stop to discharge and take on passengers; checkpoint
a place (as at a frontier) where travellers are stopped for inspection and clearance; loading area, loading zone
a stop where carriers can be loaded and unloaded; stopover, way station
a stopping place on a journey

Type of:: place, spot, topographic point
a point located with respect to surface features of some region

n a brief stay in the course of a journey

Synonyms:: layover, stopover

Types:: show 4 types...; hide 4 types...; night-stop
a break in a journey for the night; pit stop
a brief stop at a pit during an automobile race to take on fuel or service the car; pit stop
a stop during an automobile trip for rest and refreshment; stand
a stop made by a touring musical or theatrical group to give a performance

Type of:: stay
continuing or remaining in a place or state

n the state of inactivity following an interruption

“he spent the entire stop in his seat”

Synonyms:: arrest, check, halt, hitch, stay, stoppage

Types:: countercheck
a check that restrains another check; logjam
any stoppage attributable to unusual activity

Type of:: inaction, inactiveness, inactivity
the state of being inactive

v render unsuitable for passage

“stop the busy road”

Synonyms:: bar, barricade, block, block off, block up, blockade

: block, obstruct
shut out from view or get in the way so as to hide from sight

Types:: block off, close off, shut off
block off the passage through; close
bar access to

Type of:: block, close up, impede, jam, obstruct, obturate, occlude
block passage through

n an obstruction in a pipe or tube

Synonyms:: block, blockage, closure, occlusion, stoppage

Types:: show 11 types...; hide 11 types...; breech closer, breechblock
a metal block in breech-loading firearms that is withdrawn to insert a cartridge and replaced to close the breech before firing; plug, stopper, stopple
blockage consisting of an object designed to fill a hole tightly; vapor lock, vapour lock
a stoppage in a pipeline caused by gas bubbles (especially a stoppage that develops in hot weather in an internal-combustion engine when fuel in the gas line boils and forms bubbles that block the flow of gasoline to the carburetor); bung, spile
a plug used to close a hole in a barrel or flask; bottle cork, cork
the plug in the mouth of a bottle (especially a wine bottle); drainplug
a removable plug for holding water in a tub or basin; earplug
a plug of cotton, wax, or rubber that is fitted into the ear canal for protection against the entry of water or loud noise; fipple
a wooden plug forming a flue pipe (as the mouthpiece of a recorder); tampion, tompion
plug for the muzzle of a gun to keep out dust and moisture; tampon
plug of cotton or other absorbent material; inserted into wound or body cavity to absorb exuded fluids (especially blood); spigot, tap
a plug for a bunghole in a cask

Type of:: impediment, impedimenta, obstructer, obstruction, obstructor
any structure that makes progress difficult

n a restraint that checks the motion of something

“he used a book as a stop to hold the door open”

Synonyms:: catch

Types:: show 4 types...; hide 4 types...; bench hook
any of various stops on a workbench against which work can be pushed (as while chiseling or planing); doorstop, doorstopper
a stop that keeps open doors from moving; click, detent, dog, pawl
a hinged catch that fits into a notch of a ratchet to move a wheel forward or prevent it from moving backward; trip, tripper
a catch mechanism that acts as a switch

Type of:: constraint, restraint
a device that retards something's motion

n a consonant produced by stopping the flow of air at some point and suddenly releasing it

“his stop consonants are too aspirated”

Synonyms:: occlusive, plosive, plosive consonant, plosive speech sound, stop consonant

Antonyms:: continuant, continuant consonant
consonant articulated by constricting (but not closing) the vocal tract

Types:: labial stop
a stop consonant that is produced with the lips; glottal catch, glottal plosive, glottal stop
a stop consonant articulated by releasing pressure at the glottis; as in the sudden onset of a vowel; click, suction stop
a stop consonant made by the suction of air into the mouth (as in Bantu)

Type of:: obstruent
a consonant that is produced with a partial or complete blockage of the airflow from the lungs through the nose or mouth

n a mechanical device in a camera that controls size of aperture of the lens

Synonyms:: diaphragm

Types:: iris, iris diaphragm
diaphragm consisting of thin overlapping plates that can be adjusted to change the diameter of a central opening

Type of:: mechanical device
mechanism consisting of a device that works on mechanical principles

n (music) a knob on an organ that is pulled to change the sound quality from the organ pipes

“the organist pulled out all the stops”

Type of:: knob
a round handle

n a punctuation mark (.) placed at the end of a declarative sentence to indicate a full stop or after abbreviations

Synonyms:: full point, full stop, period, point

Types:: suspension point
(usually plural) one of a series of points indicating that something has been omitted or that the sentence is incomplete

Type of:: punctuation, punctuation mark
the marks used to clarify meaning by indicating separation of words into sentences and clauses and phrases

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