full stop

plural full stops · alternative full-stop · alternative fullstop

1. CommonwealthIrelandUKThe punctuation mark ⟨.⟩ (indicating the end of a sentence or marking an abbreviation).

   the final period / the final full stop

   2002, Sarah Kane, 4.48 Psychosis, Methuen, →ISBN, page 41

   Synonyms: period, dot

2. figurativelyA decisive end to something.

   [S]pielberg was keen to stress that The Fabelmans is not a full stop: “It is not because I decided to retire, and this is my swan song, don’t believe that.”

   2022 October 22, Wendy Ide, quoting Steven Spielberg, “‘It’s a way to bring my mum and dad back’: Steven Spielberg on the new wave of cine-memoirs”, in The Guardian

   Synonyms: hard stop

3. A complete stop.

   The train moved slowly, very slowly, but at least it was moving, and the customers were grateful even for indecisive motion going their way. Just outside the Nassau border, in Queens, the train came to a full stop.

   1978 February 26, Richard F. Shepard, “ABOUT LONG ISLAND: 7 Hours to Manhasset, and So Forth”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 10 Dec 2025

   2 more examples

   What’s more, Mr Samek did not even wake up after the car had come to a full stop: officers were forced to wake hm up by knocking on the window, according to a police report that indicated the autopilot feature was likely on “considering the vehicle’s ability to slow to a stop when Samek was asleep.”

   2018 December 3, Chris Riotta, “How police stopped a speeding Tesla with a sleeping driver behind the wheel”, in The Independent, London: Independent News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 04 Dec 2018

   For example, the NHTSA forced Tesla to prevent the system from executing illegal “rolling stops” (moving slowly through a stop sign without ever coming to a full stop, while an “unexpected braking” problem is the subject of a current inquiry.

   2022 March 27, Laurie Clarke, “How self-driving cars got stuck in the slow lane”, in The Observer, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 27 Mar 2022

   Synonyms: point, -x

alternative full-stop · alternative fullstop

1. colloquialUsed to emphasize the end of an important statement or point when speaking to show something is not up for discussion or debate.

   We need more people to join IRC, full stop.

   Synonyms: and that’s final, hard stop, that’s that, it’s as simple as that, period, end of

present singular third person full stops · participle present full stopping · participle past full stopped · past full stopped · alternative full-stop · alternative fullstop

1. alternativeAlternative form of full-stop.

   Dealership INSISTS that the wheel is straight when I get the truck back, and once accused me of "full stopping" the wheel vigorously.

   2000 August 22, Roger Ditmeier, “T100 Crooked Steering Wheel”, in alt.autos.toyota.trucks (Usenet), archived from the original on 10 Dec 2025

   2 more examples

   The instructor didn't call the tower to let them know that a newbie was going out, so I told them myself that it was my first solo and to be REAL NICE TO ME. They were, and the controller congratulated me when I full stopped (the controller I got was the one I can always understand the best, which was good).

   1996 May 3, Clive Pickles, “MY first solo this time”, in rec.aviation.misc (Usenet), archived from the original on 10 Dec 2025

   "The night lives on" from W.Lord reports that Titanic engines weren't full stopped after collision as seen in the movie, but were first ran full astern (just slowing down when Titanic hit the berg, and NOT yet running full astern), then stopped, then after few minutes ran half ahead and then half astern for such few minutes.

   1999 September 28, Zortek, “Titanic engines”, in alt.movies.titanic (Usenet), archived from the original on 10 Dec 2025