pause

[pawz] /pɔz/
noun
1.
a temporary stop or rest, especially 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.
Prosody. a break or suspension, as a caesura, in a line of verse.
6.
Music. a fermata.
verb (used without object), paused, pausing.
7.
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.
8.
to dwell or linger (usually followed by on or upon):
to pause upon a particular point.
Idioms
9.
give pause, to cause to hesitate or be unsure, as from surprise or doubt:
These frightening statistics give us pause.
Origin
1400-50; (noun) Middle English < Latin pausa < Greek paûsis a halt, equivalent to paú(ein) to stop + -sis -sis; (v.) derivative of the noun
Related forms
pausal, adjective
pauseful, adjective
pausefully, adverb
pauseless, adjective
pauselessly, adverb
pauser, noun
pausingly, adverb
nonpause, noun
unpausing, adjective
Can be confused
pause, paws, pores, pours.
Synonyms
1–3. suspension, interruption, break, halt; hiatus, lacuna. 7. rest. 8. tarry, delay.
British Dictionary definitions for give pause

pause

/pɔːz/
verb (intransitive)
1.
to cease an action temporarily; stop
2.
to hesitate; delay: she replied without pausing
noun
3.
a temporary stop or rest, esp in speech or action; short break
4.
(prosody) another word for caesura
5.
(music) Also called fermata. a continuation of a note or rest beyond its normal length Usual symbol fermata
6.
give pause to, to cause to hesitate
Derived Forms
pausal, adjective
pauser, noun
pausing, noun, adjective
Word Origin
C15: from Latin pausa pause, from Greek pausis, from pauein to halt
Word Origin and History for give pause

pause

n.

early 15c., from Old French pausee "a pause, interruption" (14c.) and directly from Latin pausa "a halt, stop, cessation," from Greek pausis "stopping, ceasing," from pauein "to stop, to cause to cease," from PIE root *paus- "to leave, desert, cease, stop."

v.

mid-15c., from pause (n.) and from Middle French pauser, from Late Latin pausare "to halt, cease, pause." Related: Paused; pausing.

give pause in Medicine

pause (pôz)
n.
A temporary stop or cessation.

Idioms and Phrases with give pause

give pause

Cause one to hesitate, as in The high monthly installment payments gave me pause, or, as Shakespeare put it in Hamlet (3:1): “For in that sleep of death what dreams may come ... Must give us pause.” [ c. 1600 ]

pause

see: give pause