Meanings
verbstop the presses (third-person singular simple present stops the presses, present participle stopping the presses, simple past and past participle stopped the presses)
present singular third person stops the presses · participle present stopping the presses · participle past stopped the presses · past stopped the presses
- idiomaticAn exclamation used to introduce especially new, important, surprising, or recent developments.
Origin
Originally referred to delaying the printing of a newspaper in order to change its content to accommodate the inclusion of late-breaking news.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Danish stop trykpressen
- stop trykpressenimperative
Finnish pysäyttää painokoneet
- pysäyttää painokoneetimperative
Portuguese parem as máquinas
- parem as máquinasimperative
Spanish paren las rotativas
- paren las rotativasimperative
Swedish stoppa pressarna
- stoppa pressarnaimperative
Cite this entry
APA
stop the presses. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stop%20the%20presses
MLA
“stop the presses.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stop%20the%20presses. Accessed November 5, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “stop the presses,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stop%20the%20presses.
Source: stop the presses on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.