What Is An Em Dash And How Do You Use It?
\ ˈstäp
transitive verb
1a : to close by filling or obstructing
b : to hinder or prevent the passage of
c : to get in the way of : be wounded or killed by easy to stop a bullet along a lonely … road— Harvey Fergusson
2a : to close up or block off [an opening] : plug
b : to make impassable : choke, obstruct
c : to cover over or fill in [a hole or crevice]
3a : to cause to give up or change a course of action
b : to keep from carrying out a proposed action : restrain, prevent stopped them from leaving
4a : to cause to cease : check, suppress
5a : to deduct or withhold [a sum due]
b : to instruct one's bank to refuse [payment] or refuse payment of [something, such as a check]
6a : to arrest the progress or motion of : cause to halt stopped the car
c : to check by means of a weapon : bring down, kill
d : to beat in a boxing match by a knockout broadly : defeat
7a : to change the pitch of [something, such as a violin string] by pressing with the finger
b : to change the pitch of [a wind instrument] by closing one or more finger holes or by thrusting the hand or a mute into the bell
8 : to hold an honor card and enough protecting cards to be able to block [a bridge suit] before an opponent can run many tricks
intransitive verb
1a : to cease activity or operation his heart stopped the motor stopped
b : to come to an end especially suddenly : close, finish The talking stopped when she entered the room.
2a : to cease to move on : halt
3a : to break one's journey : stay
b chiefly British : remain
c : to make a brief call : drop in
4 : to become choked : clog the sink often stops up
b : a pause or breaking off in speech
b : a means of regulating the pitch of a musical instrument
b : the aperture of a camera lens also : a marking of a series [as of f-numbers] on a camera for indicating settings of the diaphragm
c : a drain plug : stopper
4 : a device for arresting or limiting motion
5 : the act of stopping : the state of being stopped : check
6a : a halt in a journey : stay made a brief stop to refuel
b : a stopping place a bus stop
7a chiefly British : any of several punctuation marks
b —used in telegrams and cables to indicate a period
c : a pause or break in a verse that marks the end of a grammatical unit
8a : an order stopping payment [as of a check or note] by a bank
9 : a consonant characterized by complete closure of the breath passage in the course of articulation — compare continuant
10 : a depression in the face of an animal at the junction of forehead and muzzle
11 : a function of an electronic device that stops a recording