- stop
- [[t]stɒ̱p[/t]]
♦stops, stopping, stopped1) VERB If you have been doing something and then you stop doing it, you no longer do it.
[V -ing] Stop throwing those stones!...
[V -ing] He can't stop thinking about it...
[V -ing] I've been told to lose weight and stop smoking...
[V -ing] I stopped working last year to have a baby...
[V n] Does either of the parties want to stop the fighting?...
She stopped in mid-sentence.
2) VERB If you stop something happening, you prevent it from happening or prevent it from continuing.[V n] He proposed a new diplomatic initiative to try to stop the war...
[V n] If the fire isn't stopped, it could spread to 25,000 acres...
[V n -ing] I think she really would have liked to stop us seeing each other...
[V n -ing] He put the radio on loud to stop himself thinking about it...
[V n from -ing] Motherhood won't stop me from pursuing my acting career...
[V n from -ing] There's nothing to stop you from doing a bit of exploring further afield.
3) VERB If an activity or process stops, it is no longer happening.The rain had stopped and a star or two was visible over the mountains...
The system overheated and filming had to stop...
The music stopped and the lights were turned up...
They're treating it like a game, a novelty. That's got to stop.
4) V-ERG If something such as machine stops or is stopped, it is no longer moving or working.The clock had stopped at 2.12 a.m...
His heart stopped three times...
[V n] Arnold stopped the engine and got out of the car...
[V n] He stopped the machine and replayed the message.
5) V-ERG When a moving person or vehicle stops or is stopped, they no longer move and they remain in the same place.The car failed to stop at an army checkpoint...
He stopped and let her catch up with him...
[V n] The event literally stopped the traffic...
[V n] The van was stopped at customs in Harwich.
Syn:6) N-SING: to a N If something that is moving comes to a stop or is brought to a stop, it slows down and no longer moves.People often wrongly open doors before the train has come to a stop...
He slowed the car almost to a stop.
Syn:7) VERB If someone does not stop to think or to explain, they continue with what they are doing without taking any time to think about or explain it.[V to-inf] She doesn't stop to think about what she's saying...
[V to-inf] There is something rather strange about all this if one stops to consider it...
People who lead busy lives have no time to stop and reflect.
Syn:8) VERB If you say that a quality or state stops somewhere, you mean that it exists or is true up to that point, but no further.[V adv] The cafe owner has put up the required `no smoking' signs, but thinks his responsibility stops there...
[V adv] The good news did not stop there...
[V adv] Once you cross over the thin line to acts of lawlessness, who knows where it stops?
Syn:9) N-COUNT: oft supp N A stop is a place where buses or trains regularly stop so that people can get on and off.There was an Underground map above one of the windows and I counted the stops to West Hampstead...
They waited at a bus stop.
10) VERB If you stop somewhere on a journey, you stay there for a short while.[V prep/adv] He insisted we stop at a small restaurant just outside of Atlanta...
[V prep/adv] It would be a crime to travel all the way to Australia and not stop in Sydney.
11) N-COUNT: usu with supp A stop is a time or place at which you stop during a journey.The last stop in Mr Cook's lengthy tour was Paris...
Mack was driving down from Vermont, with a stop in Boston to pick Sarah up.
12) N-COUNT: usu pl In music, organ stops are the knobs at the side of the organ, which you pull or push in order to control the type of sound that comes out of the pipes.13) PHRASE: V inflects (emphasis) If you say that someone will stop at nothing to get something, you are emphasizing that they are willing to do things that are extreme, wrong, or dangerous in order to get it.Their motive is money, and they will stop at nothing to get it.
14) PHRASE: V inflects If you pull out all the stops, you do everything you can to make something happen or succeed.New Zealand police vowed yesterday to pull out all the stops to find the killer.
15) PHRASE: V inflects If you put a stop to something that you do not like or approve of, you prevent it from happening or continuing.His daughter should have stood up and put a stop to all these rumours.
16) PHRASE: know inflects If you say that someone does not know when to stop, you mean that they do not control their own behaviour very well and so they often annoy or upset other people.Like many politicians before him, Mr Bentley did not know when to stop...
You should know when to stop asking questions.
Phrasal Verbs:- stop by- stop off- stop up
English dictionary. 2008.
