pause

UK: /ˈpɔːz/ US: /pɔz/ ,(pôz)

Inflections of 'pause' (v): (⇒ conjugate)

pauses

v 3rd person singular

pausing

v pres p

paused

v past

paused

v past p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

pause /pɔz/   n., v., paused, paus•ing. 
n. [countable]

1. a temporary stop or rest:
   After a brief pause, he resumed his speech.

v. [no object]

2. to make a brief stop or delay:
   The pilot paused, then dove toward the target.

Idioms

3. Idioms give pause, to cause to hesitate or reconsider, as from surprise or doubt: [give + object + pause]
   The presence of the bodyguards and their two machine guns gave him pause.
   [~ + pause + to + object]
   The bitter cold gave pause to even the most curious onlooker.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

pause  (pôz), n., v., paused, paus•ing. 
n. 

1. a temporary stop or rest, esp. in speech or action:
   a short pause after each stroke of the oar.
2. a cessation of activity because of doubt or uncertainty;
   a momentary hesitation.
3. any comparatively brief stop, delay, wait, etc.:
   I would like to make a pause in my talk and continue after lunch.
4. a break or rest in speaking or reading to emphasize meaning, grammatical relation, metrical division, etc., or in writing or printing by the use of punctuation.
5. Poetry [Pros.] a break or suspension, as a caesura, in a line of verse.
6. Music and Dance a fermata.
7. Idioms give pause, to cause to hesitate or be unsure, as from surprise or doubt:
   These frightening statistics give us pause.

v.i. 

8. to make a brief stop or delay;
   wait;
   hesitate:
   He paused at the edge of the pool for a moment. I'll pause in my lecture so we can all get some coffee.
9. to dwell or linger (usually fol. by on or upon):
   to pause upon a particular point.

• Greek paûsis a halt, equivalent. to paú(ein) to stop + -sis -sis; (verb, verbal) derivative of the noun, nominal
• Latin pausa
• (noun, nominal) Middle English 1400–50

paus′al, adj. 
pause′ful, adj. 
pause′ful•ly, adv. 
pause′less, adj. 
pause′less•ly, adv. 
paus′er, n. 
paus′ing•ly, adv. 
Synonyms

• 1–3. suspension, interruption, break, halt; hiatus, lacuna.
• 8. rest.
• 9. tarry, delay.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

pause / pɔːz/ verb

1. (intransitive) to cease an action temporarily; stop
2. (intransitive) to hesitate; delay: she replied without pausing
3. (transitive) to interrupt temporarily the operation of (a device or process): she paused the DVD

noun

1. a temporary stop or rest, esp in speech or action; short break
2. a control button on an electronic device that allows the temporary interruption of playback or recording
3. another word for caesura
4. Also called: fermata a continuation of a note or rest beyond its normal length
5. give pause to ⇒ to cause to hesitate

Etymology: 15th Century: from Latin pausa pause, from Greek pausis, from pauein to halt