Forms: 5–7 stopp, 6–7 stoppe, (stope), 5– stop. [f. STOP v. Cf. MDu. stoppe (mod.Du. stop fem., bung, darn).]
I. Action of stopping.
1. The action or an act of impeding, obstructing or arresting; the fact of being impeded or arrested; a check, arrest or obstruction (of motion or activity).
1544. Betham, Precepts War, I. clxxxviii. I iij b. That thy souldiours maye haue plentye, withoute any stop or entercourse of theyr enemyes.
1592. Soliman & Pers., I. v. 15. Through which our passage cannot finde a stop Till it haue prickt the hart of Christendome.
c. 1610. Sir J. Melvil, Mem. (Bannatyne Club), 350. They … entrit into the toun without stop.
1690. T. Burnet, Theory Earth, III. ix. 76. Therefore we must not suppose such an Universal stop of waters.
1722. De Foe, Col. Jack, ii. He … had the money paid him without any stop or question asked.
1738. [G. Smith], Cur. Relat., II. 314. There was a general Stop of Trade.
1837. Carlyle, Fr. Rev., II. I. xi. Our Federate Volunteers will file through the inner gateways…. Nay there, should some stop occur, [etc.].
1848. Thackeray, Van. Fair, xvi. If people only made prudent marriages, what a stop to population there would be!
b. An act of stopping the ball in a ball-game.
1773. J. Duncombe, Surrey Triumphant, xlix. Davis, for stops and catches fam’d.
c. The order given to a fire-brigade station not to continue sending out in force. Also stop-message.
1872. Routledge’s Ev. Boy’s Ann., 114/2. Roused me four times … for stops for chimbleys [note, a fireman’s warning].
1890. Times 25 April, 10/2. The fire was so well under control that a stop message was despatched stating that the premises were gutted.
† d. To give a stop to (an agent or activity): to check or arrest the progress of. Obs.
a. 1586. Sidney, Arcadia, II. (Sommer), 175 b. But Basilius (swearing he would put out her eyes, if she stird a foote to trouble his daughter) gaue her a stoppe for that while.
1611. G. H., trans. Anti-Coton, 63. He talkes of Otacoustes, Prosagogides, and Quadruplators: Words that had giuen vs the stop, had they been put in the entrance (of his discourse.)
1678. Butler, Hud., III. i. 286. In hast I snatch’d my weapon up, And gave their Hellish Rage a stop.
1693. Locke, Educ., § 107. ’Tis a great Step towards the mastery of our Desires, to give this stop to them, and shut them up in Silence.
† e. To make (a) stop of = f. Obs.
1633. Brome, Antipodes, I. vii. (1640), D 1 b. What’s he? One sent, I feare, from my dead mother, to make stop Of our intended voyage.
1638. R. Baker, trans. Balzac’s Lett. (vol. II.), 56. This is … not to make a stoppe of contentments but to husband them.
1673. Temple, Ireland, Wks. 1731, I. 110. This made a sudden and mighty Stop of that Issue of Money.
f. To put a stop to (an activity, something active): to check, restrain; to arrest the progress of; to bring to an end, abolish.
1678. Dryden, Tr. & Cr., I. i. (1679), 3. But you grave pair,… Must put a stop to these incroaching ills.
1687. A. Lovell, trans. Thevenot’s Trav., I. 26. For putting a stop to these fires, there are men called Baltadgis.
1702. Reasons for addressing his Maj. to invite the Electress, etc. 2. Putting all imaginable Stops to what they cannot barefac’dly hinder.
1735. Johnson, Lobo’s Abyssinia, Descr., xi. 111. That a stop might be put to the inroads of the Galles.
1789. Brand, Hist. Newcastle, II. 304. The coal-trade at Newcastle was for some time put a stop to by a mutiny of the keelmen.
1879. M. J. Guest, Lect. Hist. Eng., xvii. 166. Henry … put a stop to this.
1885. ‘Mrs. Alexander,’ Valerie’s Fate, ii. This is very curious,… and must be put a stop to.
2. In certain specific uses: A veto or prohibition (against); an embargo (upon goods, trade); a refusal to pass tokens; an order stopping payment of a bank note, cheque or bill.
Stop of the exchequer, the suspension of payment of the Government debt to the London goldsmiths in 1672.
1634. in J. Simon, Ess. Irish Coins (1749), 115. Complaints … concerning the stop and refusall of farthing tokens.
1675. Essex Papers (Camden), I. 293. To take off the stopp in the Court of Excheqr against the Convicting of Papists.
1723. Lond. Gaz., No. 6133/4. A Stop is put against any Claim at the South-Sea-Office.
a. 1734. R. North, Life Ld. Keeper Guilford (1826), I. 178. Hence proceeded the stop of the Exchequer.
1855. F. Playford, Pract. Hints Investing Money, 44. A ‘Writ of Distringas’ is a process, by which persons beneficially interested in any Stock standing in the name of other parties may … place a Distringas or stop on the transfer thereof.
1863. H. Cox, Instit., III. vii. 683, note. An Order in Council … directed a stop to be made of payment of Exchequer moneys.
1892. Cordingley, Commerc. Guide, 160. A ‘stop’ is usually put on bank notes, cheques, bills of exchange, bonds and similar documents when they have been lost or stolen. The ‘stop’ consists in writing a letter to the banker from whom the documents are payable, giving him instructions not to pay them, or not to do so without inquiry. Ibid. (1907), Lond. Commerc. Dict., 162. In such cases … it is usual to land the goods on arrival and put a ‘Stop’ upon them—that is, instruct the wharfinger … not to part with them until the freight has been paid.
3. The act of filling or closing up an aperture.
1593. Shaks., 2 Hen. VI., III. i. 288. A Breach that craues a quick expedient stoppe.
4. The act of coming to a stand; a halt in a journey or walk; a cessation of progress or onward movement. Often coupled with stay. Phr. to make a stop.
1575[?]. Blundevil, Art of Riding, II. iv. E v b. I tolde you before, that you shuld trot your horse right out in the midle forowe betwixte the ringes vntill you come to the place of stop.
c. 1586. C’tess Pembroke, Ps. CIV. ix. Thou makst the sunne … Well knowe the start and stop of dayly race.
a. 1625. Fletcher, Hum. Lieut., III. i. When he took leave now, he made a hundred stops.
1648. J. Beaumont, Psyche, II. xlix. How Kingdoms sprung, and how they made their stop, I well observ’d.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., III. 173. No Stop, no Stay, but Clouds of Sand arise.
1776. Entick, London, I. 489. The next stop was at a pageant at Leadenhall.
1805. Wordsw., Waggoner, I. 36. Many a stop and stay he makes.
1839. Dickens, Nich. Nick., xxv. Mrs. Crummles advancing with that stage walk which consists of a stride and a stop alternately.
1887. F. Francis, Jr. Saddle & Mocassin, 168. He [the pony] would check and counter-check in mid-career each break of the truant’s with stops and turns so sudden, that once [etc.].
b. A halt or stay occupying some considerable space of time; a stay or sojourn made at a place, esp. in the course of a journey.
1650. R. Stapylton, Strada’s Law C. Wars, III. 50. Her husband Octavio Duke of Parma (who never liked the stop of the Spanish army in the Netherlands).
1659. Rushw., Hist. Coll., I. 76. From thence [they] rode Post to Paris, where they made some stop.
1719. De Foe, Crusoe, II. (Globe), 581. Nor did we make any long Stop here, but hastned on towards Jarawena.
1793. L. Williams, Children’s Friend, I. 221. So I staid, upon thorns. And father, uneasy at my stop, came soon afterwards.
1881. J. Hatton, New Ceylon, v. 137. From six in the morning till about eight in the evening they held their way, with but three stops of about half an hour each.
1895. Cornh. Mag., Oct., 407. The train was a good deal behind time, and therefore the stop was curtailed as much as possible.
c. A place at which a halt is made; a stopping-place (for coaches, etc.).
1889. Pall Mall Gaz., 2 Jan., 4/2. The next stage was to Cuckfield, to which stop the team consisted of four geldings.
1913. Daily Graphic, 26 March, 7/4. There should be separate and fixed stops for ’buses and trams.
5. A block or obstruction of traffic caused by the overcrowding of vehicles.
a. 1626. Bacon, Apoph., § 86, Wks. 1773, I. 539. A citizen of London passing the streets very hastily, came at last where some stop was made by carts;… where being in some passion that he could not suddenly pass [etc.].
1683. Luttrell, Brief Rel., I. 249. The justices of peace … have … made an order for the clearing the narrow streets of hackny coaches, to prevent any stops that may happen thereby.
1690. Crowne, Eng. Frier, III. 27. As soon as ever the stop of coaches is over, my Lady will drive like mad.
1712. Steele, Spect., No. 515, ¶ 1. To St. Paul’s Church-yard, where there was a Stop of Coaches attending Company coming out of the Cathedral.
1739. Joe Miller’s Jests, No. 205. A Fellow once standing in the Pillory at Temple-Bar, it occasioned a Stop, so that a Carman with a load of Cheeses had much ado to pass.
6. A cessation, coming to a pause or end (of any activity, process, etc.).
1483–4. Cely Papers (Camden), 146. Yff they schuld be stoppyd ther wold come noo moo merchauntes heder the whych schuld cause a grett stopp.
1596. Shaks., 1 Hen. IV., V. iv. 83. And Time, that takes suruey of all the world, Must haue a stop.
1634. Milton, Comus, 552. At which I ceas’t, and listen’d them a while, Till an unusuall stop of sudden silence Gave respit [etc.].
1690. Locke, Hum. Und., III. vii. § 5. Here it intimates a stop of the Mind, in the course it was going, before it came to the end of it.
1752. trans. Rameau’s Treat. Musick, 69. These Cadences introduce a Sort of a Stop or Rest, during a Piece.
1889. Eng. Illustr. Mag., Dec., 256. The band came to a stop.
1897. Allbutt’s Syst. Med., II. 916. In tobacco intermittence the patient is always conscious of the stop and roll forward [of the heart].
b. A pause or breaking-off made by one speaking.
1561. T. Hoby, trans. Castiglione’s Courtier, II. (1900), 199. Here M. Bernarde makinge a little stopp.
1593. Shaks., Rich. II., V. ii. 4. Yorke. Where did I leaue? Duch. At that sad stoppe, my Lord, Where [etc.]. Ibid. (1604), Oth., III. iii. 120. And for I know thou’rt full of Loue, and Honestie, And weigh’st thy words before thou giu’st them breath, Therefore these stops of thine, fright me the more.
1663. Patrick, Parab. Pilgr., xvi. (1687), 137. The first words … which he uttered when the other made a little stop, was this vehement exclamation.
1848. Dickens, Dombey, xli. The smiling and unconscious look of Florence brings him to a dead stop.
1859. Meredith, R. Feverel, xxxviii. Her voice sounded to him like that of a broken-throated lamb, so painful and weak it was, with the plaintive stop in the utterance.
† c. Hesitation, holding back; a pause for consideration before acting. Obs.
1535. Coverdale, Isa. xliv. 7. Let him tell you forth planely thinges, that are past and for to come: yee and that without eny feare or stoppe.
1560. Pilkington, Aggeus, E v. And almost as many yeres haue we … buylded our own houses goodly without any stoppe or feare.
1561. T. Hoby, trans. Castiglione’s Courtier, II. (1900), 138. Nor to geve himselfe so for a prey to friend … that without stoppe a manne shoulde make him partaker of all his thoughtes.
† d. At a stop: at a standstill; at a nonplus.
a. 1626. Bacon, Holy War, Misc. Wks. (1629), 98. At which sudden Question, Martius was a little at a stop.
1685. Lady Russell, in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.), I. 342. Lord Dorset’s match seems to be at a stop.
1722. De Foe, Plague (1884), 127. As Navigation was at a Stop.
† e. The ‘end’ or purpose of an action. Obs.
1551. Recorde, Pathw. Knowl., Epist. to King. All do agre, that felicitie is and ought to be the stop and end of all their doynges.
II. Something that stops, arrests or blocks.
7. Something that arrests or hinders motion or activity; an impediment, obstacle. ? Obs.
c. 1508. Wolsey, in Lett. Rich. III. & Hen. VII. (Rolls), I. 446. That ther shuld be in hym no stop [nor] let but perfygt indever that suche a amyte and confederacon s[hould be made] suerly betwyx them.
1513. Douglas, Æneis, IX. iii. 160. Quhat meyn thai be this myddill mantill wall? This litill stop of dykis and fouseys all?
1526. Tindale, Eph. ii. 14. He … whych … hath broken doune the Wall in the myddes, that was a stoppe bitwene vs.
1548. Hall, Chron., Hen. IV., 25. For the which cause he conceiued so great an hatred … against the Duke of Orleaunce (as the onely stop and let of his … renoume).
1588. Shaks., L. L. L., I. i. 70. These be the stops that hinder studie quite.
1635–56. Cowley, Davideis, III. 948. He curst the Stops of Form and State, which lay In this last Stage like Scandals in his Way.
1665. Hooke, Microgr., 131. A stiff, hard, and hollow Cane, or Reed, without any kind of knot, or stop, from its bottom.
1725. N. Robinson, Th. Physick, 31. The Dregs or Fæces [will] descend, and surmount all those Stops, Letts, and Impediments, that arise from the Plicæ or Wrinkles of the Intestines.
† b. Something that finishes or brings to an end.
a. 1586. Sidney, Arcadia, IV. (1598), 326. Blessed be thou, o night,… thou art the stop of strife, and the necessarie truce of approching battels.
1628. [see 18 b].
8. a. A weir or dam across a river; a sluice or floodgate. ? Obs.
1585. Higins, Junius’ Nomencl., 391/2. Septum,… a sluce: a floudgate, or water stop.
1641. J. Taylor (Water P.), Last Voy., A 4 b. Every Stoppe and Weare.
1681. Delaune, Pres. St. Lond., 199. They took care to clear … the River Westward of about 79 Stops or Hatches, consisting of divers great Stakes and Piles, erected by Fishermen for their private lucre.
1793. Rep. Comm. Ho. Comm. (1803), XIV. 233. Between Day’s and Sutton Locks there requires a stop or pound lock at or near Clifton Ferry.
1800. Trans. Soc. Arts, XVIII. 283. Two stops or cloughs, one to each lock, which serve as lock-gates to the south end.
b. A blind alley in a maze.
1666. G. Harvey, Morbus Angl., xxvi. (1672), 58. Like a Labyrinth divided into several stops, turnings or windings, where at each division we must halt, [etc.].
1718. Switzer, Ichnogr. Rust., II. 219. Six different entrances, whereof there is but one that leads to the centre, and that is attended with some difficulties and a great many stops.
1882. Encycl. Brit., XIV. 181/1. The key to reach this resting place is to keep the right hand continuously in contact with the hedge from first to last, going round all the stops.
9. A piece of mechanism (e.g., a pin, bolt, shoulder, a strip or block of wood) that checks the motion or thrust of anything, keeps a part fixed in its place, determines the position to which a part shall be brought, etc.
1523–34. Fitzherb., Husb., § 139. Thou muste haue made redy a ponch of harde wood, with a stop and a tenaunte on the one syde.
1552. Huloet, Stoppe whych reteygneth a wheale of hys cowrse, sufflamen.
1770. Luckombe, Hist. Printing, 314. On the hither end of this square pin is made a sholder or stop.
1784. Bramah, in Report. Arts & Manuf. (1796), V. 222. The said key, by having a stop, or some mark whereby to limit or determine the length of its push against the said levers, sliders, &c. puts a period to each of their motions.
1845. G. Dodd, Brit. Manuf., IV. 203. The plank or piece of wood, while being planed, is kept firmly down upon the bench by means of a stop or fastening at the end.
1857. W. Collins, Dead Secret, IV. i. [He] touched the stop of the musical box so that it might cease playing when it came to the end of the air.
1870. Tyndall, Heat, i. § 6. 5. The current generated would dash the needle violently against its stops and probably derange its magnetism.
1897. Encycl. Sport, I. 342/1. (Driving), Stops, hooks upon the shafts which prevent the harness from slipping forward.
1897. Allbutt’s Syst. Med., II. 229. Stops should be fixed in the sash-grooves, so that neither sash can be opened more than six inches.
1901. J. Black’s Carp. & Build., Home Handicr., 24. A bench iron or ‘stop’ should be screwed down on forward end of bench for holding work during planing.
b. Joinery. Each of the pieces of wood nailed on the frame of a door to form a rebate against which the door shuts.
1833. Loudon, Encycl. Archit., § 239. Stops (a term variously applied, but chiefly to slips nailed on for doors or shutters to shut against).
1881. Young, Every Man his own Mechanic, § 836. The door must then be removed, and stops … nailed to the sides of the jambs and the under surface of the lintel.
† c. Watchmaking. ? A mark on the dial of a stop-watch indicating a fraction of a second. Obs.
1701. Lond. Gaz., No. 3692/4. Lost…, a Watch with a double Case…, with Minutes, Seconds, and Stops.
d. Clockwork. A contrivance to prevent overwinding.
1675. J. S[mith], Horolog. Dial., 38. You must first wind it [a watch] up right … not too hastily, least you force the stop, and break the string.
1873. Nelthropp, Watch-work, 145. Foreign watches are usually made without the fusee…; when such is the case, a Geneva stop is used, which consists of a small wheel placed on the barrel-arbor, having but one tooth.
1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., s.v. Stop-work, It is better to so organize the stop that the strongest and weakest powers of the spring be rejected.
e. Bookbinding. (See quot.)
1880. Zaehnsdorf, Art of Bookbinding, 177. Stops, small circular tools, adapted to ‘stop’ a fillet when it intersects at right angles; used to save the time ‘mitreing’ would occupy.
f. Lace-making. A junction of the different sets of warp-threads, taken as a basis for measurement in Jacquard weaving.
1891. Century Dict.
10. Naut. a. A piece of small line used to fasten or secure anything.
1846. A. Young, Naut. Dict., 323. Stop. A temporary fastening for a rope; generally of rope-yarn…. A Stop, also means a projection for any thing to rest or bear upon.
1875. Bedford, Sailor’s Pocket Bk., vii. 216. When the boat is beached, the stops which hang the gangboards alongside are to be let go.
1887. Daily Tel., 10 Sept., 2/5. The jib … had been sent up in stops.
b. A projection at the upper part of a mast.
1846. [see a].
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., Stop, a small projection on the outside of the cheeks of a lower mast, at the upper parts of the hounds.
c. Shipbuilding. (See quot.)
1891. Century Dict., s.v., Single stop, the scoring down of the carlines between the beams, by which means a carline is prevented from sinking any lower iban its intended position. The double stop is generally used for deeper carlines than the single stop.
11. Arch. An ornamental termination to a chamfer.
1825. J. Nicholson, Operat. Mechanic, 604. In grooving, the stops are paid over and above.
1845. Builder, 15 Nov., 551/1. Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4,… shew Norman stops to chamfers, in Sherburn church, Yorkshire.
12. Optics. A perforated plate or diaphragm used to cut off marginal rays of light round a lens. Cf. DIAPHRAGM sb. 4 a.
1831. Brewster, Optics, xliii. 36. The stop or diaphragm must be placed half way between the two lenses.
1888. Rutley, Rock-Forming Min., 28. The eye-piece must of course be provided with a stop.
13. Something that stops an aperture; a plug.
1770. Phil. Trans., LX. 317. The stop of cotton must now be taken out of the throat.
1862. Catal. Internat. Exhib., II. x. 18. Patent india-rubber stops to make air-tight joints.
III. Music.
14. In an organ, a graduated set of pipes producing tones of the same quality. ? Orig. applied to the slider that controls such a set.
c. 1500. in Grose, Antiq. Repert. (1809), IV. 407. The swete Organe Pipis comfortith a stedfast mynde, Wronge handlynge of the stoppis may cause yem sipher fro ye kynde.
1513. in Kerry, Hist. St. Lawrence’s, Reading (1883), 60. It. payd for ij lokks to the same organs, one for the stopps and the other for the keyes, xj d.
1541. Ludlow Churchw. Acc. (Camden), 8. For mendynge one of the stopes of the great organs … viij d.
1542. in Archæol. Jrnl., XVIII. 139. Item oone peir of doble Regalles with two stoppes of pipes coverid with purple vellat.
1667. Milton, P. L., VII. 596. All Organs of sweet stop.
1782. W. Hooper, Rational Recr. (ed. 2), II. 237. The stops of an organ have various denominations, according to the sounds they are to produce; some of which are diapason, principal, fifteen, twelfth, [etc.].
1804. Grahame, Sabbath, 71. The organ breathes its distant thunder-notes,… And now the tubes a soften’d stop controls.
1887. Ruskin, Præterita, II. 9. Accompanying flourishes by Mr. Marshall on the trumpet stop.
b. The handle or knob by which a set of organ pipes is turned on or off; a stop-knob, draw-stop.
1585. Higins, Junius’ Nomencl., 354/2. Epistomium,… the stop in a paire of organs, whereby the sound is made hie or lowe.
1852. Seidel, Organ, 35. On both sides of the manual … there is a number of handles or buttons … called stops.
1883. Grove’s Dict. Mus., III. 718/2. Stops. This word is used in two senses—for the handles or draw-stops which are placed near the organ-player, and by which he can shut off or draw on the various registers; and for the registers themselves.
c. In the harpsichord, a handle controlling a lever by which the position of a jack could be varied so as to modify the tone produced.
1730. in Abridgm. Specif. Patents, Music (1871), 1. It will keep much longer in tune than any harpsichords that have octave stops.
1879. Grove’s Dict. Mus., I. 689/2. He [Hans Ruckers] contrived, after the example of the organ, a second keyboard, and stops to be moved by the hand, for the control of the registers or slides of jacks acting upon the strings.
15. a. The closing of a finger-hole or ventage in the tube of a wind instrument so as to alter the pitch. Also, a metal key used for this purpose. Also, the hole or aperture thus closed.
c. 1500. in Grose, Antiq. Repert. (1809), IV. 407. The Recorder of his kynde the meane doth desyre, Manyfolde fyngerynge and stoppes bringith hy from his tunes clere, Who so lyst to handill an instrument so goode, Must se in his many fyngerynge yt he kepe tyme, stop and moode.
1579. Gosson, Apol. Sch. Abuse (Arb.), 68. God forbidde, quoth the piper, that your maiestie should be so miserable, as to knowe these fantastical toyes any better, their effeminate stops are not worth a straw.
1597. Shaks., 2 Hen. IV., Ind. 17. Rumour is a Pipe … of so easie, and so plaine a stop, That … The still discordant, wauering Multitude, Can play vpon it.
1630. Drayton, Muses Eliz., Nimph., iii. 413. Teaching euery stop and kaye, To those vpon the Pipe that playe.
1637. Milton, Lycidas, 188. He touch’d the tender stops of various Quills.
1705. Addison, Italy, Rome, 322. The same Variety of Strings may be observ’d on their Harps, and of Stops on their Tibiæ.
1846. Landor, Hellenics, Theron & Zoe, 61. The sobs that choakt my flute, the humidity … that gargled on the stops.
1913. Sir H. Johnston, Pioneers Australasia, vi. 205. The flutes upon which the people [of Tahiti] played had only two stops, and therefore could not sound more than four notes by half-tones.
b. The act of pressing with the finger on a string of the violin, lute, etc., so as to raise the pitch of its tone. Also, the part of the string where pressure is made in order to produce a required note; sometimes mechanically marked, as by the frets of a lute or guitar. Full stop, a chord in producing which all the strings are stopped.
1530. Palsgr., 276/2. Stoppe of a lute.
1574. F. Ke, trans. A. Le Roy’s Instruct. Lute, 6. There bee ordinarily eight stops in nomber: whereof euery one containeth but halfe a tune or note.
1599. Shaks., Much Ado, III. ii. 62. His iesting spirit, which is now crept into a lute-string, and now gouern’d by stops.
1610. Dowland, Var. Lute-lessons, C 1 b, marg. To know how to strike single strings, being found amongst full stops.
1626. Bacon, Sylva, § 105. If a Man would endeuour to raise or fall his Voice, still by Halfe-Notes, like the Stops of a Lute.
1659. C. Simpson, Division-Violist, I. 6. Where the Stopps are Wide (as amongst the Fretts,) the Fourth or Little Finger, is of more use, then Lower down, where the Stopps are more Contract.
1678. D’Urfey, Trick for Trick, IV. ii. 40. Hee’l Fiddle and make a noise, but the Devil a stop he knowes, or when he fiddles in Tune.
1876. Stainer & Barrett, Dict. Mus. Terms, Stop (1) the pressure by the fingers of the strings upon the fingerboard of a stringed instrument. (2) A fret upon a guitar or similar instrument.
† c. To keep stop, ? to keep in tune or correct pitch. Obs.
c. 1500: see a.
1585. Higins, Junius’ Nomencl., 354/1. Modos conciaere & frangere,… to breake time: not to keepe stop, or to fall from the higher tunes to the lower.
16. fig. or transf. Now chiefly with reference to the organ; in the earlier quots. app. sometimes vaguely used for ‘note,’ ‘key,’ ‘tune.’
1576. Gascoigne, Steele Gl. (Arb.), 59. But sweeter soundes, of concorde, peace, and loue, Are out of tune, and iarre in euery stoppe.
1605. 1st Pt. Jeronimo, II. iv. 35. Haue euery sillable a musick stop, That, when I pause, the mellody may moue [etc.].
1684. Roscommon, Ess. Transl. Verse, 349. A skilful Ear in Numbers shou’d preside, And all Disputes without Appeal decide. This ancient Rome and Elder Athens found, Before mistaken stops debauch’d the sound.
1821. Shelley, Epipsych., 85. Sweet as stops Of planetary music heard in trance.
1850. S. Dobell, Roman, vii. Poet. Wks. (1875), 138. Fortune … Play’d a flourish ere she changed her awful stop for evermore.
1865. M. Arnold, Ess. Crit., Pref. p. xiv. Knowing how unpopular a task one is undertaking when one tries to pull out a few more stops in that … somewhat narrow-toned organ, the modern Englishman.
IV. Grammar.
17. A mark or point of punctuation.
[1590: see 21.]
1616. T. Scot, Philomythie, G 3 b. Thy folly was in fault rashly to draw, Thy articles without aduise at law. There wanted stops, pricks, letters, here and there.
1623. Middleton, More Dissemblers, III. ii. 77. I can write fast and fair, Most true orthography, and observe my stops.
1740. Chesterf., Lett., I. lxi. 173. I hope too that he makes you read aloud, distinctly, and observe the stops.
1802. Mar. Edgeworth, Moral T., Forester, xv. The corrector of the press scarcely had occasion to alter a word, a letter, or a stop.
1862. Calverley, Verses & Transl. (ed. 2), 38. Who … talked in such a hurry And with such wild contempt for stops and Lindley Murray.
1906. H. W. & F. G. Fowler, King’s Engl., iv. 225. It is a sound principle that as few stops should be used as will do the work.
b. Mind your stops: lit. said to a child reading aloud; in quot. transf. (colloq.).
1830. Marryat, King’s Own, xx. Mind your stops, my Jack of the Bone-house, or I shall shy a biscuit at your head.
c. Versification. In Guest’s nomenclature, a break (in verse as spoken or read aloud) which is required by the sense: distinguished from pause, which denotes a break required by the meter.
1838. Guest, Engl. Rhythms, I. I. vii. 148, 154, 158.
1852. R. W. Evans, Versif., 59. Whenever he [sc. Virgil] adds a stop to the pause, he is wont to break its force by putting a monosyllable after it.
18. Full stop. a. The end of a sentence; the single point or dot used to mark this; a period, aloud; full point.
1596. Shaks., Merch. V., III. i. 17. Sal. Come, the full stop.
1665. Hooke, Microgr., 3. A point commonly so call’d, that is, the mark of a full stop, or period.
1729. S. Palmer, Gen. Hist. Printing, I. 93. Their periods are distinguished by no other points than the double and single one, i. e., the colon and full stop.
1748. J. Mason, Ess. Elocution, 24. You are not to fetch your Breath (if it can be avoided) till you come to the Period or Full stop.
1886. Athenæum, 30 Oct., 559/3. In spite of much use and abuse of full stops, the writer’s meaning is often far from clear.
b. transf. and fig. in various senses, e.g., a complete halt, check, stoppage or termination; an entire nonplus.
1628. Earle, Microcosm., Sergeant (Arb.), 57. He is the Period of young Gentlemen, or their full stop, for when hee meets with them they can go no farther.
1655. Fuller, Ornithol. (1867), 258. She therefore that hath not the modesty to die the Relict of one man, will charge through the whole Army of Husbands, if occasion were offered, before her love will meet with a full stop thereof.
1711. Budgell, Spect., No. 77, ¶ 1. After we had walked some time, I made a full stop with my Face towards the West.
1719. W. Wood, Surv. Trade, 233. All Persons depending on the Turkey Trade, were at a full Stop for many Months.
1727[?]. Swift, Gulliver, Introd. Let. fr. Capt. Gulliver. Seeing a full stop put to all abuses and corruptions, at least in this little island.
1798. Ferriar, Engl. Historians, 237. The story thus comes unexpectedly to a full stop.
1815. Scott, Guy M., xlvii. He drew up his reins…, and made a full stop.
19. Phonetics. a. The complete closure of the orinasal passages in articulating a mute consonant. b. A consonantal sound in the formation of which the passage of the breath is completely obstructed; a stopped consonant, a mute.
1669. Holder, Elem. Speech, 11. The Letters, as they have their natural Production by the several checks or stops, or (as they are usually called) Articulations of the Breath or Voice in their passage from the Larynx through the Mouth or Nose, made by the instruments of Speech.
1873–4. H. Sweet, in Trans. Philol. Soc., 106. A peculiar feature of Danish is its aspiration of the voiceless stops at the beginning of a syllable.
V. Miscellaneous specific and technical senses (some of mixed or uncertain affinity).
20. Fencing. (See quot.) Cf. stop-thrust in 29, and F. coup d’arrêt.
c. 1450. Fencing with Two-handed Sword, in Reliq. Antiq., I. 308. An in stop, and an owte stop, and an hawke quartere. Ibid. Two quarters and a rownde a stop thou hym bede. Ibid., 309. Thy stoppis, thy foynys, lete hem fast rowte.
1771. Lonnergan, Fencer’s Guide, 82. On Guard in Quarte-over-the-arm. Make a full thrust at me in Quarte [etc.]…; thus you stop me. Note, that you must conserve a little of your whole longe, that your stop may be planted with more force.
1891. Century Dict., Stop … 17. In fencing, the action whereby a fencer, instead of parrying a blow and then thrusting, allows a careless opponent to run on his sword-point. He may hasten the stop by extending the sword-arm.
21. † a. In the manège: A sudden check in a horse’s career. Obs. b. In driving: (see quot. 1897).
1575[?]. Blundevil, Art of Riding, II. i. D vj. Secondly, you must teach him to be light at stoppe.
1590. Shaks., Mids. N., V. i. 120. He hath rid his Prologue, like a rough Colt: he knowes not the stop. Ibid. (1597), Lover’s Compl., 109. What rounds, what bounds, what course, what stop he makes!
1598. Florio, Parare,… the stop in the action of horsemanship.
1897. Outing, XXX. 255. Whenever a sharp turn is being made always be prepared to put on the ‘stop.’ Ibid. Lift your left hand, drop your right over all reins and give the ‘stop’ firmly.
† 22. Hunting. ? A check given to the hounds. To hunt upon the stop, ? to hunt with frequent pauses, as in hunting with stop-hounds; in quot. fig.
1590. Cockaine, Treat. Hunting, B iv b. At euery ouer putting off the hounds, or small stop, euery huntsman that hath a horne ought to begin his rechate.
1615. S. Ward, Coal fr. Altar, 78. If any step a little forward, do not the rest hunt vpon the stop?
23. a. Pugilism. A guard or attack that prevents a blow from getting home.
1812. Sporting Mag., XL. 66. Maltby, however, has some slight notion of the stop.
1828. Egan, Boxiana, IV. 154. Abbot showed that he was not destitute of science, and made some good stops.
1861. Lever, One of Them, ix. The stranger not only ‘stopped’ every blow of the other, but followed each ‘stop’ by a well-sent-in one of his own.
b. Wrestling. A counter to any particular fall or hold.
1840. D. Walker, Defensive Exerc., 12. Particular falls and their stops.
24. A hole in the ground in which the doe-rabbit secures her litter. Cf. STAB sb.3 and STOCK sb.1 45.
1669. Worlidge, Syst. Agric. (1681), 174. On the other side … let the places be left for the Does to make their stops in.
1823. Cobbett, Rur. Rides (1885), I. 357. As pleased as … when I had just found a rabbit’s stop, or a black-bird’s nest.
1908. Nation, 6 June, 340/2. An occasional rabbit stop opened from above and emptied of its young.
25. Fox-hunting. A particular area in which a man is deputed to stop the earths.
1826. J. Cook, Fox-hunting, 65. If, after this notice, you run to ground in any particular man’s stop, you had better discharge him [the earth-stopper] immediately.
26. Shooting. A person posted in a particular place in order to keep the game within range after it has been started.
1897. Encycl. Sport, I. 442/2. (Gamekeepers), The stops must be in their places long before the actual beating begins.
1905. Capt. A. I. R. Glasfurd, Rifle & Romance Ind. Jungle, 332. The tiger has not been in any way located by any ‘stops’ which the shikári may have posted.
27. a. The indentation in the face of a dog between the forehead and the nose.
1867. Dogs Brit. Isl. (ed. ‘Stonehenge’), 70. The ‘stop’ (which is an indentation between the eyes) should extend up the face [of the bulldog] a considerable length.
1884. Live Stock Jrnl., 5 Sept., 227/2. Bull-dogs:… a nice brindle, hardly enough chop, but good stop and wrinkle.
b. In a cavy (see quot. 1913).
1902. Fur & Feather, 19 Sept., 233/1. Capital stops, nice cheeks, good top collar. Ibid. Only 1 stop, this about its only fault.
1913. G. Gardner, Cumberland’s Cavies (ed. 2), 75. [In Dutch-marked cavies] The ‘stops,’ or white markings, to the hind feet, should be about an inch long.
28. Card-playing. In Pope Joan and similar games, a card that stops the run of a sequence. Hence pl., the game of Newmarket.
1808. C. Jones, Hoyle’s Games Impr., 161. (Pope Joan) One [card is] turned up for trump, and about six or eight left in the stock to form stops:… the four kings and the seven of diamonds are always fixed stops.
1830. ‘Eidrah Trebor’ (R. Hardie), Hoyle Made Familiar, 81. (Commit.) A spare hand is dealt in the middle of the table, for the purpose of making stops in the playing, which is by sequences.
1895. G. J. Manson, Sporting Dict., Stop, a card in Newmarket which balks or stops the further play in a sequence.
1897. R. F. Foster, Compl. Hoyle, 466. Newmarket, or Stops.
VI. 29. Comb.: stop-block, † (a) a block of wood indicating the position of a fire-cock; (b) a buffer at the termination of a railway-line; stop-boy, a boy employed to keep the game within range (see 26); stop-buffer = stop-block (b); † stop cater trey, some kind of false dice (cf. stop-dice); stop-cleat Naut. (see CLEAT sb. 2); stop-clock (cf. STOP-WATCH); stop-cloth, a cloth used in cleaning a chimney to prevent the soot from spreading into the room; stop-coin = stop-quoin; stop-day, a day on which colliers stop work; † stop-dice, some kind of false or loaded dice; cf. stopped dice, STOPPED ppl. a. 4; stop-dog = stop-hound; stop-drill, a drill with a shoulder or collar to limit the depth of penetration; stop-finger, a device for arresting motion in machinery; † stop-galliard, ? a galliard in which the music and dancing were abruptly broken off; stop-gate, (a) a gate placed across a railway; (b) a gate by which the water in one section of a canal can be shut off from the next in case of damage to the bank; (c) a stop-valve; stop-ground = GROUND sb. 6 d; stop-handle = stop-knob; stop-hound, a hound trained to hunt slowly and to stop at a signal from the huntsman; stop-knob, the handle that is pulled out to open a particular stop in an organ; stop-mount = sense 12; stop-net, (a) a net thrown across a river or tidal channel to intercept fish; (b) a net to stop the ball, in various games; stop-order, (a) an order issued by the Court of Chancery to stay payment of funds in the custody of the Court; (b) an order directing a broker to buy or sell stock at a specified price, in order to limit loss; stop-piece, -pin, a piece or pin serving to arrest some moving part; stop-plank (see quot.); stop-plate, (a) in a lock (see quot. 1837); (b) in a journal-box (see quot. 1884); stop-quoin, -coin, a quoin used for keeping a gun steady; † stop-rice Mining [perh. to STOPE sb.2] ? wood for making stop-rods; stop-ridge Archæol., a ridge on a celt, pipe, etc., that prevents one part from slipping too far over another; stop-rod, (a) Mining [? to STOPE sb.2], in pl., the wattling of the shafts of a mine; (b) Weaving, a rod that forms part of the mechanism for stopping the motion of the loom; † stop-screw, a screw that clamps a movable part when it is required to be fixed; stop-seine Fisheries (see quot. 1884); stop-stroke Croquet, a stroke that drives a croqueted ball to a distance, while leaving the striker’s ball more or less stationary; stop-tap = STOPCOCK; stop-thrust Fencing, a thrust delivered at the opponent at the moment when he advances for attack (cf. 20); stop-valve, a valve that closes a pipe against the passage of fluid; stop-wither Whaling (see quot.); stop-wool Hatmaking (see quot.); stop-work, a mechanism to prevent the overwinding of the spring of a watch, etc.
1707. Act 6 Anne c. 31 § 1. The Top of such *Stop-blocks to lie even with the Pavement of each Street or Place.
1853. Repts. Principal Accid. Railways, 233. A short siding with strong stop blocks at the end.
1902. Land & Water, 25 Oct., 616/3. *Stop boys should not make such a noise or be placed in such a position as to frighten the birds into breaking at the wrong place.
1881. M. Reynolds, Engine-driving Life, 69. I was once in a train which the driver could not stop, and we went right into the *stop-buffers.
1605. Lond. Prodigal, I. i. Fullomes, *stop cater traies, and other bones of function.
1606. Chapman, M. D’Olive, IV. i. F 3. I haue learned but three sorts [of pronouns]; the Goade, the Fulham, and the Stop-kater-tre; which are all demonstratiues.
1794. *Stop-cleats: see CLEAT sb. 2.
1869. Sir E. Reed, Shipbuild., xiii. 250. Upon the upper and lower stays Stop-cleats are riveted and serve to prevent the rudder from being put over past a certain angle.
1881. Times, 15 Jan., 5/6. The time being taken by a *stop-clock.
c. 1742. in Hone’s Every-day Bk., II. 525/2. For Decency’s sake [the coffin], is covered with a Chimney-sweeper’s *Stop-cloth.
1879. Crosby, Chr. Preacher, vii. 191. The Sabbath is a *stop-day.
1900. Westm. Gaz., 4 Dec., 5/2. It is believed that another stop day will shortly be observed by the colliers of South Wales with a view to restricting the output of coal.
1540. Palsgr., Acolastus, IV. ii. S iv. Dyce of aduantage, or false dyce or *stoppe dyce.
1592. Greene, Def. Conny Catching, To Rdr. Gourds, stoppe-dice, high-men, low-men.
c. 1767. G. White, Selborne, To Pennant, vi. They gave him [the deer], by their watches, law, as they called it, for twenty minutes; when, sounding their horns, the *stop-dogs were permitted to pursue.
1843. Holtzapffel, Turning, I. 342. This is frequently regulated by boring holes … with a *stop-drill.
1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., *Stop-finger, a device in a silk-doubling machine for stopping the motion of the bobbin if the thread break.
1884. F. J. Britten, Watch & Clockm., 248. The chain would raise the end of the stop finger.
1594. Plat, Jewell-ho., II. 39. Meethinks I am now in the midst of a *stop galiard, & … coulde finde in my hearte to commaunde the Violands to cease, and so to breake off.
1790. Act 30 Geo. III., c. 82 § 58. The Person or Persons making every such Cut shall … make, erect, and maintain a *Stop Gate or Stop Gates on every such Cut, in order to prevent the Water being drained … out of the said Canal.
1793. Act 33 Geo. III., c. 95 § 40. Every Horse … which shall … travel upon any such Rail or Waggon Way,… and shall pass through or by any Stop Gate … erected upon or across the same.
1872. D. Stevenson, Canal & River Engin. (ed. 2), 16. It is necessary to introduce stop-gates at short intervals of a few miles,… so that in the event of a breach occurring, the gates may be shut, [etc.].
1898. Daily News, 14 Dec., 6/3. An engine,… over-running the stopgate, ran down an incline at a great rate.
1902. I. P. Church, in Science, 10 Jan., 66/2 (Cent.). The closing of the stop-gate [= valve] is instantaneous.
a. 1819. Rees, Cycl., s.v. Etching, This varnish or composition (which is called *stop-ground) being sufficiently dry, the aquafortis may be poured on the plate.
1858. J. Baron, Scudamore Organs, 19. They had no notion how the sound was … modified, beyond knowing that … certain *stop handles [must be] pulled out or pushed in during the playing of the instrument.
1711. Budgell, Spect., No. 116, ¶ 3. Sir Roger, being at present too old for Fox-hunting,… has disposed of his Beagles and got a Pack of *Stop-Hounds.
1781. P. Beckford, Th. Hunting (1802), 261. Were fox-hounds to stop, like stop-hounds, at the smack of a whip, they would not do their business the worse for it.
1887. W. S. Pratt, in W. Gladden, Parish Problems, 435. The notion that his organ consists merely of a set of keys and *stop-knobs.
1879. Cassell’s Techn. Educ., IV. 312/2. The paper *stop-mount should be printed in black.
1634–5. Ir. Act 10 Chas. I., c. 14 (1678), 426. Setting of *stop-Nets, Still-Nets or standing-Nets fixed upon posts … in the Rivers where the Salmon should passe up from the Sea.
1808. Col. Hawker, Diary (1893), I. 8. Went fishing with a casting net and a stop net.
1881. Cassell’s Nat. Hist., V. 138. The stop-net is then shot out towards the land across the direction in which the fish are moving, so as to intercept them.
1891. Grace, Cricket, 223. A piece of ground … thirty to forty yards long,… with stop-nets, will serve your purpose [for practice].
1875. W. Royle, Laws Funds, etc. 75. A Stop Order is a proceeding merely applicable to funds in the Court of Chancery.
1840. in Newton’s Lond. Jrnl., Conj. Ser. XVI. 326. One of the ends of the locking lever … is brought by the force of the main spring against or into coincidence with a ruby pallat or *stop-piece.
1869. Rankine, Machine & Hand-tools, Pl. N 1, Two adjustable *stop pins, i, are fixed at points corresponding to the period for reversing the motion of the machine.
1840. H. S. Tanner, Canals & Rail Roads U. S., 260. *Stop planks, dams on the line of a canal to prevent the loss of water in case of accident.
1837. Hebert, Engin. & Mech. Encycl., II. 108. A circular *stop-plate, to prevent the withdrawal of the bolt [of a lock] till the circular plate, which is put in rotation by clock-work, shall have revolved so as to bring a notch opposite the end of the bolt.
1884. Knight, Dict. Mech., Suppl., Stop Plate, a metallic plate in the inside of a journal-box which forms an end-bearing for the axle and checks its end-motion.
1859. F. A. Griffiths, Artil. Man. (1862), 112. *Stop quoins.
c. 1860. H. Stuart, Seaman’s Catech., 12. When do you use stop Coins? When fighting lee guns, or with distant charges.
1653. Manlove, Customs Lead-Mines, 258. *Stoprice, Yokings, Soletrees, Roach and Ryder.
1747. Hooson, Miner’s Dict., K 1. Ordinary Timber or Stoprice.
1877, 1894. *Stop-ridge [see PALSTAVE].
1902. A. J. Evans, in Ann. Brit. Sch. Athens 1901–2, 14. The mouthpiece of each tube is provided with a stop-ridge.
1747. Hooson, Miner’s Dict., s.v. Brouse, Brouse [is] a course sort of Stoping,… put into the Pannes, at the Back of the *Stoprods, or Bangrets, in Sinking,… to hold the Geer from falling down.
1680. Moxon, Mech. Exerc., xiv. 237. The *Stop-screw, to take out when the Hollow Axis moves in the Moving Coller.
1825. Encycl. Lond., XX. 435/1. This *stop-sean is left in the water, till, by successive tuckings, night after night, all the fish are taken therefrom.
1884. Day, Fishes Gt. Brit., I. p. c. Common seines or stop-seines are such as are lifted at once with the enclosed fishes into the boat.
1899. Baring-Gould, Bk. West, II. Cornw., xix. 315. The boat … then shoots this tuck-sean within the stop-sean.
1868. W. J. Whitmore, Croquet Tactics, 15. The *stop stroke is made as follows. Place the balls in line and touching;… bring the mallet head sharply down on the ball you strike.
1895. Jrnl. R. Inst. Brit. Architects, 14 March, 350. Pipes should be run on inside walls and fitted with several *stop-taps.
1861. G. Chapman, Foil Practice, 20. The Time Thrust is a sudden attack…; it is designated … a *Stop Thrust when it arrests the adversary on his advance.
1889. W. H. Pollock, etc. Fencing (Badm. Libr.), 91. The Stop-thrust (i. e. Coup d’Arrêt).
1829. Nat. Philos. Hydraulics, ii. 13 (U.K.S.). K is the *stop-valve, covering the top of the feed-pipe.
1820. Scoresby, Acc. Arctic Reg., II. 224. The little reverse barb, or *‘stop wither’ as it is called,… prevents the harpoon from being shaken out by the ordinary motions of the whale.
1839. Ure, Dict. Arts, 637. Round the edge of the tip or crown [of a silk hat], a quantity of what is called *stop wool is to be attached … which will render the edge soft and elastic.
1869. Horolog. Jrnl., 1 April, 91/1. Dispensing with *stop works, which … are objectionable when economy is an object.
