📒 to no longer move; to make somebody/something no longer move
- The car stopped at the traffic lights.
- Ann stopped in front of the house.
- This train doesn’t stop at Oxford.
📒 to no longer continue to do something; to make somebody/something no longer do something
- Can't you just stop?
- stop doing something That phone never stops ringing!
- Don't you ever stop talking?
📒 to end or finish; to make something end or finish
- When is this fighting going to stop?
- The bus service stops at midnight.
- stop doing something Has it stopped raining yet?
📒 to prevent somebody from doing something; to prevent something from happening
- stop somebody/something I want to go and you can't stop me.
- efforts to stop the spread of the disease
- There's no stopping us now (= nothing can prevent us from achieving what we want to achieve).
📒 to end an activity for a short time in order to do something
- stop for something I'm hungry. Let's stop for lunch.
- We stopped for the night in Port Augusta.
- stop to do something We stopped to admire the scenery.
📒 to no longer be working or functioning; to make something be no longer working or functioning
- Why has the engine stopped?
- What time is it? My watch has stopped.
- I felt as if my heart had stopped.
📒 to stay somewhere for a short time, especially at somebody’s house
- I'm not stopping. I just came to give you this message.
- stop for something Can you stop for tea?
📒 to prevent money from being paid
- stop something to stop a cheque (= tell the bank not to pay it)
- Employees of the failed company will have their wages stopped from tomorrow.
- stop something from something (British English) Dad threatened to stop £1 a week from our pocket money if we didn't clean our rooms.
📒 to block, fill or close a hole, an opening, etc.
- Stop up the other end of the tube, will you?
- I stopped my ears but still heard her cry out.
📒 to be willing to do anything to get what you want, even if it is dishonest or wrong
- She’ll stop at nothing to make money.
📒 to stop measuring time in a game or an activity that has a time limit
📒 to suddenly make somebody stop by frightening or surprising them; to suddenly stop because something has frightened or surprised you
- The question stopped Alice in her tracks.
- Suddenly he stopped dead in his tracks: what was he doing?
- (figurative) The disease was stopped in its tracks by immunization programmes.
📒 to suddenly stop, or make somebody suddenly stop, doing something
- He stopped short when he heard his name.
- ‘I’m pregnant,’ she said. That stopped him short.
📒 to be unwilling to do something because it may involve a risk, but to nearly do it
- She stopped short of calling the president a liar.
- The protest stopped short of a violent confrontation.