pause

Verb

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

1. (intransitive) To take a temporary rest, take a break for a short period after an effort.
2. (transitive) To stop (an activity) for a while.
   • The general public could therefore have been forgiven for thinking that work on the new station had stopped. But pausing work on an active construction site of this size is not straightforward.2025 February 19, Chris Howe, “Euston: a work in progress”, in RAIL, number 1029, page 44
3. (intransitive) To interrupt an activity and wait.
   • When telling the scary story, he paused for effect.
   • Tarry, pause a day or two.c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
4. (intransitive) To hesitate; to hold back; to delay.
   • Why doth the Jew pause? Take thy forfeiture.c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
5. (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
   • Press Start at any time to pause the game.2008, “Story Mode”, in Cory in the House: Instruction Booklet, Burbank, California: Disney Interactive Studios; Nintendo, page 9
6. (intransitive, obsolete) To consider; to reflect.
   • Take time to pause.c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First...

Noun (1)

pause (plural pauses)

1. A temporary stop or rest; an intermission of action; interruption; suspension; cessation.
   • 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.1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XLV, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, page 374

   Synonyms:

   hiatus, moratorium, recess, caesura

2. A short time for relaxing and doing something else.

   Synonyms:

   break, holiday, recess, annual leave, day off, getaway, leave, leave of absence, time away, time off

3. (figuratively) Hesitation; suspense; doubt.
   • to take pause
   • to give pause

   Synonyms:

   vacillation, wavering

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.
   • He [Paul] is full of the Matter he treats and writes with Warmth, which uſually neglects Method, and thoſe Partitions and Pauſes which Men educated in the Schools of Rhetoricians uſually obſerve.a. 1705 (date written), [John Locke], “[An Essay for the Understanding of St. Paul’s Epistles, […]]”, in A Paraphrase and Notes on the Epistles of St. Paul […], London: […] J[ohn] H[umphreys] for...
6. A sign indicating continuance of a note or rest.

Interjection

1. (slang, African-American Vernacular) Used immediately after a statement to indicate that there was no innuendo or homosexual meaning intended, especially when such a meaning is a reasonable interpretation.

   Synonyms:

   no homo

Noun (2) capitalized: Pause

Pause (plural Pauses)

1. A button whose functions are pausing and resuming something, such as a DVD player, a video game or a computer.