What does "stop" mean?

1. (to cease moving or acting) to finish an activity or to stay in one place and not move anymore. 2. (to prevent something) to keep something from happening or to block someone from doing something. 3. (to stay temporarily) to stay in a place for a short time while you are on a journey. 4. (transit location) a place where a bus, train, or tram regularly waits for people. 5. (ending a journey) a short break or a period of time when you are not moving during a trip. 6. (punctuation) a mark like a period (.) used at the end of a sentence. 7. (linguistics) a consonant sound where you completely block the air for a moment, like /p/ or /t/. 8. (photography) a setting that changes how much light enters a camera.

How do you use "stop"?

Often used with the pattern 'stop someone from doing something'. Often used with 'at' or 'over'. Commonly called a 'full stop' in the UK.

stop — meaning, definition & examples

Q: Is it correct to say "I stopped to smoke."?

No — say "I stopped smoking.". Use the -ing form to mean you quit a habit. Use 'to' + verb to mean you paused what you were doing in order to do something else.

Word

01to cease moving or acting

A1 · Beginner

v. to finish an activity or to stay in one place and not move anymore.

v. to cease motion, progress, or an ongoing activity. Intransitive or transitive depending on whether the subject or an object is being halted.

“The car stopped at the red light and waited for the pedestrians to cross.”

“The factory decided to stop production of the older model once the new automated assembly line became fully operational.”

Pitfall

I stopped to smoke.

I stopped smoking.

Use the -ing form to mean you quit a habit. Use 'to' + verb to mean you paused what you were doing in order to do something else.

Synonyms

halt cease quit

Antonyms

start continue proceed

02to prevent something

A2 · Elementary

v. to keep something from happening or to block someone from doing something.

v. to interrupt, prevent, or end the activity of someone or something through intervention.

“The security guard stopped the man from entering the building without an ID.”

“Heavy snow effectively stopped the rescue teams from reaching the remote village before nightfall.”

Usage

Often used with the pattern 'stop someone from doing something'.

Synonyms

prevent block hinder

Antonyms

allow permit

03to stay temporarily

B1 · Intermediate British English

v. to stay in a place for a short time while you are on a journey.

v. to reside or tarry temporarily; to make a brief visit during travel.

“We stopped at a small hotel for the night before driving the rest of the way.”

“During their tour of the coast, they stopped over in several fishing villages to sample the local cuisine.”

Usage

Often used with 'at' or 'over'.

Teaching tip

This sense is more common in British English than American English, where 'stay' is preferred.

Synonyms

stay visit sojourn

04transit location

A1 · Beginner Countable noun

n. a place where a bus, train, or tram regularly waits for people.

n. a designated location where public transport vehicles halt to allow passengers to board or alight.

“I will meet you at the bus stop in front of the library at five o'clock.”

“The city council decided to move the tram stop further down the street to reduce traffic congestion at the main intersection.”

Synonyms

station depot

05ending a journey

A2 · Elementary Countable noun

n. a short break or a period of time when you are not moving during a trip.

n. an act of halting or an interruption of travel.

“We made a quick stop for coffee and then continued our long drive.”

“The flight from London to Sydney includes a two-hour stop in Singapore for refueling and crew changes.”

Synonyms

break pause halt

06punctuation

B1 · Intermediate Countable noun Grammar British English

n. a mark like a period (.) used at the end of a sentence.

n. a punctuation mark representing a pause or the end of a sentence; specifically a full stop.

“You must put a stop at the end of every sentence.”

“The editor noted that the author frequently omitted the final stop in bulleted lists, leading to inconsistent formatting.”

Usage

Commonly called a 'full stop' in the UK.

Teaching tip

In American English, this is almost exclusively called a 'period'.

Synonyms

period point

07linguistics

C1 · Advanced Countable noun Linguistics Technical

n. a consonant sound where you completely block the air for a moment, like /p/ or /t/.

n. a consonant phoneme produced by a complete obstruction of the oral cavity, followed by a sudden release of air.

“The letter 'p' is a stop because your lips close completely to make the sound.”

“The researcher analyzed the duration of the closure phase in unvoiced stops across several different dialects.”

Teaching tip

Learners of phonetics will encounter this as a synonym for 'plosive'.

Synonyms

plosive

08photography

C1 · Advanced Countable noun Photography Technical

n. a setting that changes how much light enters a camera.

n. a unit of exposure representing a doubling or halving of the light reaching the sensor; also an f-stop.

“I opened the lens by one stop to make the photo brighter.”

“Adjusting the exposure by half a stop was sufficient to recover the detail in the shadows without blowing out the highlights.”

Synonyms

f-stopaperture

From Middle English stoppen, stoppien, from Old English stoppian (“to stop, close”), from Proto-West Germanic stoppōn, from Proto-Germanic stuppōną (“to stop, close”), stuppijaną (“to push, pierce, prick”), from Proto-Indo-European (s)tewp-, (s)tewb- (“to push; stick”), from (s)tew- (“to bump; impact; butt; push; beat; strike; hit”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian stopje (“to stop, block”), West Frisian stopje (“to stop”), Dutch stoppen (“to stop”), Low German stoppen (“to stop”), German stopfen (“to be filling, stuff”), German stoppen (“to stop”), Danish stoppe (“to stop”), Swedish stoppa (“to stop”), Icelandic stoppa (“to stop”), Middle High German stupfen, stüpfen (“to pierce”). More at stuff, stump. Alternative etymology derives Proto-West Germanic stoppōn from an assumed Vulgar Latin stūpāre, *stuppāre (“to stop up with tow”), from stūpa, stīpa, stuppa (“tow, flax, oakum”), from Ancient Greek στύπη (stúpē), στύππη (stúppē, “tow, flax, oakum”). This derivation, however, is doubtful, as the earliest instances of the Germanic verb do not carry the meaning of "stuff, stop with tow". Rather, these senses developed later in response to influence from similar sounding words in Latin and Romance.

From Middle English stoppe, from Old English stoppa (“bucket, pail, a stop”), from Proto-Germanic stuppô (“vat, vessel”), from Proto-Indo-European (s)teub- (“to push, hit; stick, stump”). See stoup. Cognates Cognate with Norwegian stopp, stoppa (“deep well, recess”), Middle High German stubech, stübich (“barrel, vat, unit of measure”) (German Stübchen). Related also to Middle Low German stōp (“beaker, flask”), Middle High German stouf (“beaker, flask”), Norwegian staupa (“goblet”), Icelandic staupa (“shot-glass”), Old English stēap (“a stoup, beaker, drinking vessel, cup, flagon”). Cognate to Albanian shtambë (“amphora, bucket”).

From s- + top.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

VERB

stop(A1)

NOUN

ADVERB