Stop Definition

stŏp

stopped, stopping, stops

verb

stopped, stopping, stops

To staunch (a cut, wound, etc.)

Webster's New World

To fill in, plug up, or cover (a hole, cavity, opening, mouth, etc.)

Webster's New World

To leave off doing something; desist from continuing.

Webster's New World

To constrict (an opening or orifice).

My nose is stopped up.

American Heritage

To block up (a passage, road, pipe, etc.) so as to make impassable; obstruct.

Webster's New World

Synonyms:

Antonyms:

noun

stops

A stopping or being stopped; check; arrest; cessation; halt; specif., a pause in speech or at the end of a sense unit in verse.

Webster's New World

A coming to an end; finish; end.

Webster's New World

A stay or sojourn.

Webster's New World

A place stopped at, as on a bus route.

Webster's New World

A device or means that obstructs, blocks, or plugs up.

American Heritage

Synonyms:

Antonyms:

adjective

Of, relating to, or being of use at the end of an operation or activity.

A stop code.

American Heritage

That stops or is meant to stop.

A stop signal.

Webster's New World

Synonyms:

Synonyms:
stopping
in abeyance
cessative

adverb

Prone to halting or hesitation.

He's stop still.

Wiktionary

idiom

pull out all (the) stops

to apply maximum effort; use every means possible

Webster's New World

put a stop to

to cause to cease; stop; end

Webster's New World

stop at nothing

to be ruthlessly resolute in pursuing an end

Webster's New World

stop down

to reduce the lens aperture by adjustment of the diaphragm

Webster's New World

stop off

to stop for a short stay en route to a place

Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Stop

Noun

Singular:

stop

Plural:

stops

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Stop

Origin of Stop

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"). 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 stÄ“ap (“a stoup, beaker, drinking vessel, cup, flagon"). Cognate to Albanian shtambÃ« (“amphora, bucket"). See stoup.

From Wiktionary
From Middle English stoppen, stoppien, from Old English stoppian (“to stop, close"), from Proto-Germanic *stuppōnÄ… (“to stop, close"), *stuppijanÄ… (“to push, pierce, prick"), from Proto-Indo-European *stÁb(h)-, *stemb(h)- (“to support, stamp, become angry, be amazed"). Cognate with 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 & Icelandic stoppa (“to stop"), Middle High German stupfen, stüpfen (“to pierce"). More at stuff, stump.

From Wiktionary
Alternate etymology derives Proto-Germanic *stuppōnÄ… from an assumed Vulgar Latin *stÅ«pāre, *stuppāre (“to stop up with tow"), from stÅ«pa, stÄ«pa, stuppa (“tow, flax, oakum"), from Ancient Greek στύπη (stýpÄ“), στύππη (stýppÄ“, “tow, flax, oakum"), from Proto-Indo-European *steyÉ™- (“to thicken, clump up, condense"). 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 Wiktionary
Middle English stoppen from Old English -stoppian probably from Vulgar Latin stuppāre to caulk from Latin stuppa tow, broken flax from Greek stuppē

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition