halt

present singular third person halts · participle present halting · participle past halted · past halted

1. intransitiveTo stop marching.

   Synonyms: pause

2. intransitiveTo stop either temporarily or permanently.

   Halt! This planet is mine to consume. So sayeth Galactus, Destroyer of Worlds.

   2023 December 18, “Galactus VS Unicron (Marvel Comics VS Transformers)” (14:12 from the start), in DEATH BATTLE!, season 10, episode 16, spoken by Galactus (Wolf Williams)

   1 more example

   And it was while all were passionately intent upon the pleasing and snake-like progress of their uncle that a young girl in furs, ascending the stairs two at a time, peeped perfunctorily into the nursery as she passed the hallway—and halted amazed.

   1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter I, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC

3. transitiveTo bring to a stop.
4. transitiveTo cause to discontinue.

   The contract negotiations halted operations for at least a week.

   Synonyms: freeze, break off

present singular third person halts · participle present halting · participle past halted · past halted

1. intransitiveobsoleteTo limp; move with a limping gait.

   Do not smile at me that I boast her of, For thou shalt find she will outstrip all praise, And make it halt behind her.

   1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]

   1 more example

   Here comes Sir Toby halting — you shall hear more; but if he had not been in drink, he would have tickled you othergates than he did.

   c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]

2. intransitiveobsoleteTo stand in doubt whether to proceed, or what to do; hesitate; be uncertain; linger; delay; mammer.

   How long halt ye between two opinions?

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Kings 18:21

3. intransitiveobsoleteTo be lame, faulty, or defective, as in connection with ideas, or in measure, or in versification.
4. obsoleteTo waver.
5. obsoleteTo falter.

plural halts

1. obsoleteA cessation, either temporary or permanent.

   The contract negotiations put a halt to operations.

   2 more examples

   Without any halt they marched.

   1702–1704, Edward [Hyde, 1st] Earl of Clarendon, (please specify |book=I to XVI), in The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, Begun in the Year 1641. […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed at the [Sheldonian] Theater

   Because most diesel failures can be traced to electrical faults, minor in themselves but often difficult to pin-point, any unscheduled halt during a trial run is often the signal for the frenzied unfolding of wiring diagrams and the appearance of an impressive array of voltmeters and circuit testers.

   1962 April, R. K. Evans, “The Acceptance Testing of Diesel Locomotives”, in Modern Railways, page 268

   Synonyms: hiatus, close

2. obsoleterail transportA minor railway station (usually unstaffed) in the United Kingdom.

   The halt itself never achieved much importance, even with workers coming to and from the adjacent works.

   2 more examples

   The highest point on the line is at milepost 21¾, 367 ft. above sea level. Here there is a halt named Kilmakerrill, after which the line descends to Manorhamilton (24¾ miles).

   1956 May, D. B. McNeill, “The Sligo, Leitrim & Northern Counties Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 332

   On once more we swung, bumping uneasily along in the antique narrow-gauge coach, with gloomy woods and gathering night outside, shouts and songs (and quacks) inside—this was not at all the sort of train ordained by the logical strategists in Paris—then grinding to a stop at a mysterious halt which was no more than a nameboard in the pinewoods, without even a footpath leading to it, but nevertheless with a solitary passenger stolidly waiting.

   1961 November, H. G. Ellison, P. G. Barlow, “Journey through France: Part One”, in Trains Illustrated, page 668

comparative more halt · superlative most halt

1. archaicobsoleteLame, limping.

   Bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 14:21

   1 more example

   It is better for the to goo halt into lyfe, then with ij. fete to be cast into hell […]

   1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Mark

plural halts

1. datedobsoleteLameness; a limp.

plural halts

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

   Halts were normally unstaffed, tickets being sold on the train.

   2024 June 10, Wikipedia contributors, “Train station”, in English Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation

1. abbreviationacronymuncountableAcronym of hungry, angry, lonely, (or) tired.