Stop Definition & Meaning

stop
noun
  1. the event of something ending; "it came to a stop at the bottom of the hill"
  2. the act of stopping something; "the third baseman made some remarkable stops"; "his stoppage of the flow resulted in a flood"
  3. a brief stay in the course of a journey; "they made a stopover to visit their friends"
  4. the state of inactivity following an interruption; "the negotiations were in arrest"; "held them in check"; "during the halt he got some lunch"; "the momentary stay enabled him to escape the blow"; "he spent the entire stop in his seat"
  5. a spot where something halts or pauses; "his next stop is Atlanta"
  6. a consonant produced by stopping the flow of air at some point and suddenly releasing it; "his stop consonants are too aspirated"
  7. a punctuation mark (.) placed at the end of a declarative sentence to indicate a full stop or after abbreviations; "in England they call a period a stop"
  8. (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"
  9. a mechanical device in a camera that controls size of aperture of the lens; "the new cameras adjust the diaphragm automatically"
  10. a restraint that checks the motion of something; "he used a book as a stop to hold the door open"
  11. an obstruction in a pipe or tube; "we had to call a plumber to clear out the blockage in the drainpipe"
verb
  1. come to a halt, stop moving; "the car stopped"; "She stopped in front of a store window"
  2. put an end to a state or an activity; "Quit teasing your little brother"
  3. stop from happening or developing; "Block his election"; "Halt the process"
  4. interrupt a trip; "we stopped at Aunt Mary's house"; "they stopped for three days in Florence"
  5. cause to stop; "stop a car"; "stop the thief"
  6. prevent completion; "stop the project"; "break off the negotiations"
  7. hold back, as of a danger or an enemy; check the expansion or influence of; "Arrest the downward trend"; "Check the growth of communism in South East Asia"; "Contain the rebel movement"; "Turn back the tide of communism"
  8. seize on its way; "The fighter plane was ordered to intercept an aircraft that had entered the country's airspace"
  9. have an end, in a temporal, spatial, or quantitative sense; either spatial or metaphorical; "the bronchioles terminate in a capillary bed"; "Your rights stop where you infringe upon the rights of other"; "My property ends by the bushes"; "The symphony ends in a pianissimo"
  10. render unsuitable for passage; "block the way"; "barricade the streets"; "stop the busy road"
  11. stop and wait, as if awaiting further instructions or developments; "Hold on a moment!"

"Stop" in song lyrics

See how stop is used in real songs:

  • "Billing through my mind non stop"
    1200 Techniques — Eye of the Storm
  • "We don't stop"
    2 Live Crew — Revelation
  • "You don't stop"
    2 Live Crew — Revelation

Usage tips for "stop"

Understanding the precise definition of a word helps you use it with confidence. When using "stop" in your writing, consider whether you need the word itself or one of its synonyms — subtle differences in meaning can change the tone of a sentence. If you're writing poetry or song lyrics, check the rhymes for stop to find words that pair well.

Use "stop" in a verse

Now that you know what "stop" means, try using it in your own lyrics:

Generate a verse

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