abeyances

Noun

abeyance (countable and uncountable, plural abeyances)

1. Expectancy; a condition when an ownership of real property is undetermined; lapse in succession of ownership of estate, or title.
   • The proceeds of the estate shall be held in abeyance in an escrow account until the minor reaches age twenty-one.
2. Suspension; temporary suppression; dormant condition.
   • Without a plausible explanation for what might have provoked an ice age, the whole theory fell into abeyance.2003, Bill Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything, BCA, page 376
3. Expectancy of a noble or armigeral title, its right in existence but its exercise suspended.
   • The broad pennant of a commodore first class has been in abeyance since 1958, together with the rank.