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pause

1. A temporary stop or rest; an intermission of action; interruption; suspension; cessation.

2. Temporary inaction or waiting; hesitation; suspence; doubt. I stand in pause where I shall first begin. (Shak)

3. In speaking or reading aloud, a brief arrest or suspension of voice, to indicate the limits and relations of sentences and their parts.

4. In writing and printing, a mark indicating the place and nature of an arrest of voice in reading; a punctuation point; as, teach the pupil to mind the pauses.

5. A break or paragraph in writing. He writes with warmth, which usually neglects method, and those partitions and pauses which men educated in schools observe. (locke)

6. A hold. See 4th Hold.

Synonym: stop, cessation, suspension.

Origin: F, fr. L. Pausa. See Pose.