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halt

verb · noun

Simple meaning

To stop either temporarily or permanently.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

hawlt
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈhɔlt

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

  1. intransitive

    To stop either temporarily or permanently.

  2. Stop from happening or developing

  3. Stop the flow of a liquid

  4. intransitive

    To stop marching.

  5. Cause to stop

  6. transitive

    To bring to a stop.

noun

  1. A cessation, either temporary or permanent.

  2. britishireland

    A small railroad station, usually unstaffed or with very few staff, and with few or no facilities.

  3. Acronym of hungry, angry, lonely, (or) tired.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency
Moderately Common
Typical Use
Neutral / general English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: To stop either temporarily or permanently.

Used this way, halt is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use halt

  • “A halt in the arms race.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

halt beforebombing haltscreeching haltgrinding halt

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • halternounInflected form

    Rope or canvas headgear for a horse, with a rope for leading.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • grind to a haltverbCompound term

    Be unable to move further.

  • hangman's halternounCompound term

    A rope that is used by a hangman to execute persons who have been condemned to death by hanging.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

verb

Sense: to stop either temporarily or permanently

freezestanchArchaicholdstayArchaiccheck

noun

Sense: cessation or either temporary or permanent

blockTechnicalstay

Antonyms

Sense: to stop either temporarily or permanently

get going

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.