suspend

[suh-spend] /səˈspɛnd/
verb (used with object)
1.
to hang by attachment to something above:
to suspend a chandelier from the ceiling.
2.
to attach so as to allow free movement:
to suspend a door on a hinge.
3.
to keep from falling, sinking, forming a deposit, etc., as if by hanging:
to suspend solid particles in a liquid.
4.
to hold or keep undetermined; refrain from forming or concluding definitely:
to suspend one's judgment.
5.
to defer or postpone:
to suspend sentence on a convicted person.
6.
to cause to cease or bring to a stop or stay, usually for a time:
to suspend payment.
7.
to cause to cease for a time from operation or effect, as a law, rule, privilege, service, or the like:
to suspend ferry service.
8.
to debar, usually for a limited time, from the exercise of an office or function or the enjoyment of a privilege:
The student was suspended from school.
9.
to keep in a mood or feeling of expectation or incompleteness; keep waiting in suspense:
Finish the story; don't suspend us in midair.
10.
Music. to prolong (a note or tone) into the next chord.
verb (used without object)
11.
to come to a stop, usually temporarily; cease from operation for a time.
12.
to stop payment; be unable to meet financial obligations.
13.
to hang or be suspended, as from another object:
The chandelier suspends from the ceiling.
14.
to be suspended, as in a liquid, gas, etc.
Origin
1250-1300; Middle English suspenden < Latin suspendere to hang up, equivalent to sus- sus- + pendere (transitive) to hang (see pend, suspense)
Related forms
suspendible, adjective
suspendibility, noun
nonsuspended, adjective
presuspend, verb (used with object)
resuspend, verb
self-suspended, adjective
unsuspended, adjective
unsuspendible, adjective
Synonyms
6. hold up, intermit. See interrupt.
Examples from the web for suspend
  • He would start to fast in prison and the nation would hold its breath till he agreed to suspend it.
  • Once you're logged in, you can manage your subscription, suspend your subscription while you're on vacation or pay bills online.
  • Colleges already have the authority to suspend or expel students for the safety of others.
  • It will probably use the legal fiddle it used six weeks ago and suspend it for a further six weeks.
  • Physicists suspend an ion in space to act as a minuscule stylus.
  • Levine wanted the technical content to sound real, so it would suspend the disbelief of his audience.
  • After a minute or two, it flew to the opposing team's goal, where it continued to suspend play for another five minutes.
  • We should attempt to suspend as much noisy activity in our oceans for a year or two and observe the effect.
  • First step: figuring out how to suspend a head of cabbage in mid-air.
  • The other option would be to suspend people from wires to simulate apparent weightlessness.
British Dictionary definitions for suspend

suspend

/səˈspɛnd/
verb
1.
(transitive) to hang from above so as to permit free movement
2.
(transitive; passive) to cause to remain floating or hanging: a cloud of smoke was suspended over the town
3.
(transitive) to render inoperative or cause to cease, esp temporarily: to suspend interest payments
4.
(transitive) to hold in abeyance; postpone action on: to suspend a decision
5.
(transitive) to debar temporarily from privilege, office, etc, as a punishment
6.
(transitive) (chem) to cause (particles) to be held in suspension in a fluid
7.
(transitive) (music) to continue (a note) until the next chord is sounded, with which it usually forms a dissonance See suspension (sense 11)
8.
(intransitive) to cease payment, as from incapacity to meet financial obligations
9.
(transitive) (obsolete) to put or keep in a state of anxiety or wonder
10.
(intransitive) (obsolete) to be attached from above
Derived Forms
suspendible, suspensible, adjective
suspendibility, noun
Word Origin
C13: from Latin suspendere from sub- + pendere to hang
Word Origin and History for suspend
v.

late 13c., "to bar or exclude temporarily from some function or privilege, to cause to cease for a time," from Old French suspendre, from Latin suspendere "to hang, stop," from sub "up from under" (see sub-) + pendere "cause to hang, weigh" (see pendant). The literal sense of "to cause to hang by a support from above" is recorded from mid-15c. Suspenders is attested from 1810, American English. Suspended animation first recorded 1795.