Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
pause (noun)1.
a temporary stop
2.
a) a break in a verse
b) a brief suspension of the voice to indicate the limits and relations of sentences and their parts
3.
temporary inaction especially as caused by uncertainty - hesitation
4.
a) the sign denoting a fermata
b) a mark (as a period or comma) used in writing or printing to indicate or correspond to a pause of voice
5.
a reason or cause for (as to reconsider) - pausing a thought that should give one pause
6.
a function of an electronic device that a recording - pauses
intransitive verb
1.
to stop temporarily
2.
transitive verb
to linger for a time to cause to pause - stop
Merriam-Webster Online Thesaurus
pause (noun)1.
a momentary halt in an activity
SYNONIMS:
break, breath, breather, interruption, lull, recessRELATED WORDS:
time-out; interim, interlude, intermission, interval, respite, rest; cessation, discontinuance, downtime, ending, expiration, finishing, hitch, lapse, stoppage, stopping, termination; abeyance, moratorium, surcease, suspension; discontinuity, gap, hiatusNEAR ANTONYMS:
continuation, endurance, persistence, progress, progression; extension, prolongation2.
a state or an instance of temporary inaction because of uncertainty about the right course of action
SYNONIMS:
faltering, fence-sitting, hesitance, hesitancy, indecision, irresolution, pause, shilly-shally, shilly-shallying, vacillation, wavering, wobbling ( wabbling)RELATED WORDS:
delay, hawing, procrastination, waiting; arrière-pensée, misgiving, second thought; consideration, debate, deliberation, doubt, incertitude, indecisiveness, indetermination, uncertainness, uncertainty; avoidance, equivocation; aversion, disinclination, indisposition, reluctance, unwillingness; faintheartedness, shyness, timidity, timidnessNEAR ANTONYMS:
certainty, certitude, confidence, decisiveness, determination, firmness, resoluteness, resolution, sureness; alacrity, eagerness, readinessto come to a temporary halt in one's activity
SYNONIMS:
breakRELATED WORDS:
hesitate; break in, interrupt; cease, discontinue, end, finish, stop, terminate; knock off, lay off, quit; lapse, let upNEAR ANTONYMS:
continue, persist; advance, progress; extend, prolong, stretch