| 释义 |
▪ I. † stop, n.1 Obs.
Forms: 1 stoppa, 4–6 stoppe, 5–6 stopp, 4–9 stop.
[OE. stoppa wk. masc. = OS. stoppo:—WGer. *stoppon-, f. OTeut. *stup- ablaut-var. of *staup-: see stoup.]
1. A pail or bucket.
c725Corpus Gloss. B. 147 Blohonicula, stoppa. c890Wærferth tr. Gregory's Dial. 11 Þa becom an fisc in þone wæterstoppan. c1000ælfric Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 123/24 Situla, stoppa. c1340Nominale (Skeat) 497 Paile..Stoppe. 1397–8Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 601 Pro stoppes correi empt. pro camera d'ni Prioris. c1440Promp. Parv. 477/1 Stoppe, vessel for mylkynge, multra. 1491Acta Dom. Concil. (1839) 195/2 Five barellis,..thre treyn stoppis. 1548in Hudson & Tingey Rec. Norwich (1910) II. 174 To serche for stoppes, roopes, ladders and bokettes of lether. 1787W. H. Marshall E. Norfolk (1795) II. 389 Stops, small well-buckets. 1895E. Angl. Gloss., Stop, the bucket of a well; formerly any bucket.
2. A holy-water stoup.
1419Holiwaterstop [see holy water 2]. 1426–7Rec. St. Mary at Hill (1905) 67 Also for primyng of þe haly water stop, viij d. 1483Act 1 Rich. III, c. 12 That no merchaunt Straungier..brynge into this Realme of Englond..halywater stoppes. 1552in Archæol. Cant. (1874) IX. 273 Item a holy water stopp of latten.
3. Sc. A pitcher, flagon, tankard. Also attrib.
1489Acta Dom. Concil. (1839) 131/1 A stop comptor, a gret pot, & a half galloun stop. 1490Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. I. 175 A water stop of siluer. 1491Acta Dom. Concil. (1839) 176/2 A quarte stop price ij s. 1496Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. I. 321 For five vnce of siluir of maid werk in a stop lid of the Kingis. 1540Ibid. VII. 312 Ane silver stop weyand xij pund wecht twa unces. 1697Invent. in Scott. N. & Q. (1900) Dec. 90/2 A tinn quart stop, a pynt.
▪ II. stop, n.2|stɒp|
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. a. 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).
1544Betham Precepts War i. clxxxviii. I iij b, That thy souldiours maye haue plentye, withoute any stop or entercourse of theyr enemyes. 1592Soliman & Pers. i. v. 15 Through which our passage cannot finde a stop Till it haue prickt the hart of Christendome. c1610Sir J. Melvil Mem. (Bannatyne Club) 350 They..entrit into the toun without stop. 1690T. Burnet Theory Earth iii. ix. 76 Therefore we must not suppose such an Universal stop of waters. 1722De 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. 1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. II. i. xi, Our Federate Volunteers will file through the inner gateways... Nay there, should some stop occur, [etc.]. 1848Thackeray 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.
1773J. 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.
1872Routledge's Ev. Boy's Ann. 114/2 Roused me four times..for stops for chimbleys [note, a fireman's warning]. 1890Times 25 Apr. 10/2 The fire was so well under control that a stop message was despatched.
†d. to give a stop to (an agent or activity): to check or arrest the progress of. Obs.
a1586Sidney 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. 1611G. H. tr. Anti-Coton 63 Words that had given vs the stop, had they been put in the entrance (of his discourse). 1678Butler Hud. iii. i. 286 In hast I snatch'd my weapon up, And gave their Hellish Rage a stop. 1693Locke 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.
1633Brome 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. 1638R. Baker tr. Balzac's Lett. (vol. II.) 56 This is..not to make a stoppe of contentments but to husband them. 1673Temple 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.
1678Dryden Tr. & Cr. i. i. (1679) 3 But you grave pair,..Must put a stop to these incroaching ills. 1687A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 26 For putting a stop to these fires, there are men called Baltadgis. 1702Reasons for addressing his Maj. to invite the Electress, etc. 2 Putting all imaginable Stops to what they cannot barefac'dly hinder. 1735Johnson Lobo's Abyssinia, Descr. xi. 111 That a stop might be put to the inroads of the Galles. 1789Brand Hist. Newcastle II. 304 The coal-trade at Newcastle was for some time put a stop to by a mutiny of the keelmen. 1879M. 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.
g. An act of stopping and questioning a suspected person.
1968J. Lock Lady Policeman iii. 21 These stops winkled out the juveniles who had absconded. 1970P. Laurie Scotland Yard ii. 47 He appreciates encouragement, and has been advised..about stops on the street.
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.
1634in J. Simon Ess. Irish Coins (1749) 115 Complaints..concerning the stop and refusall of farthing tokens. 1675Essex Papers (Camden) I. 293 To take off the stopp in the Court of Excheqr against the Convicting of Papists. 1723Lond. Gaz. No. 6133/4 A Stop is put against any Claim at the South-Sea-Office. a1734R. North Life Ld. Keeper Guilford (1826) I. 178 Hence proceeded the stop of the Exchequer. 1855F. 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. 1863H. Cox Instit iii. vii. 683 note, An Order in Council..directed a stop to be made of payment of Exchequer moneys. 1892Cordingley 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. 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.
1593Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iii. i. 288 A Breach that craues a quick expedient stoppe.
4. a. 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.
1575Blundevil 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. c1586C'tess Pembroke Ps. civ. ix, Thou makst the sunne..Well knowe the start and stop of dayly race. a1625Fletcher Hum. Lieut. iii. i, When he took leave now, he made a hundred stops. 1648J. Beaumont Psyche ii. xlix, How Kingdoms sprung, and how they made their stop, I well observ'd. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 173 No Stop, no Stay, but Clouds of Sand arise. 1776Entick London I. 489 The next stop was at a pageant at Leadenhall. 1805Wordsw. Waggoner i. 36 Many a stop and stay he makes. 1839Dickens Nich. Nick. xxv, Mrs. Crummles advancing with that stage walk which consists of a stride and a stop alternately. 1887F. Francis Jun. 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.
1650R. Stapylton Strada's Low C. Wars iii. 50 Her husband Octavio Duke of Parma (who never liked the stop of the Spanish army in the Netherlands). 1659Rushw. Hist. Coll. I. 76 From thence [they] rode Post to Paris, where they made some stop. 1719De Foe Crusoe ii. (Globe) 581 Nor did we make any long Stop here, but hastned on towards Jarawena. 1793L. Williams Children's Friend I. 221 So I staid, upon thorns. And father, uneasy at my stop, came soon afterwards. 1881J. 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. 1895Cornh. 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.).
1889Pall Mall Gaz. 2 Jan. 4/2 The next stage was to Cuckfield, to which stop the team consisted of four geldings. 1913Daily Graphic 26 Mar. 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.
a1626Bacon Apoph. §86 Wks. 1778 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.]. 1683Luttrell 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. 1690Crowne Eng. Frier iii. 27 As soon as ever the stop of coaches is over, my Lady will drive like mad. 1712Steele Spect. No. 515 ⁋1 To St. Paul's Church-yard, where there was a Stop of Coaches attending Company coming out of the Cathedral. 1739Joe 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. A cessation, coming to a pause or end (of any activity, process, etc.).
1483–4Cely Papers (Camden) 146 Yff they schuld be stoppyd ther wold come noo moo merchauntes heder the whych schuld cause a grett stopp. 1596Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, v. iv. 83 And Time, that takes suruey of all the world, Must haue a stop. 1634Milton Comus 552 At which I ceas't, and listen'd them a while, Till an unusuall stop of sudden silence Gave respit [etc.]. 1690Locke 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. 1752tr. Rameau's Treat. Musick 69 These Cadences introduce a Sort of a Stop or Rest, during a Piece. 1889Eng. Illustr. Mag. Dec. 256 The band came to a stop. 1897Allbutt'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.
1561Hoby tr. Castiglione's Courtier ii. (1900) 199 Here M. Bernarde makinge a little stopp. 1593Shakes. Rich. II, v. ii. 4 Yorke. Where did I leaue? Duch. At that sad stoppe, my Lord, Where [etc.]. 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. 1663Patrick Parab. Pilgr. xvi. (1687) 137 The first words..which he uttered when the other made a little stop, was this vehement exclamation. 1848Dickens Dombey xli, The smiling and unconscious look of Florence brings him to a dead stop. 1859Meredith 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.
1535Coverdale 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. 1560Pilkington Aggeus E v, And almost as many yeres haue we..buylded our owne houses goodly without any stoppe or feare. 1561Hoby tr. 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.
a1626Bacon Holy War Misc. Wks. (1629) 98 At which sudden Question, Martius was a little at a stop. 1685Lady Russell in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 342 Lord Dorset's match seems to be at a stop. 1722De Foe Plague (1884) 127 As Navigation was at a Stop.
†e. The ‘end’ or purpose of an action. Obs.
1551Recorde 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. a. Something that arrests or hinders motion or activity; an impediment, obstacle. ? Obs.
c1508Wolsey 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. 1513Douglas æneis ix. iii. 160 Quhat meyn thai be this myddill mantill wall? This litill stop of dykis and fouseys all? 1526Tindale Eph. ii. 14 He..whych..hath broken doune the Wall in the myddes, that was a stoppe bitwene vs. 1548Hall 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). 1588Shakes. L.L.L. i. i. 70 These be the stops that hinder studie quite. 1635–56Cowley Davideis iii. 948 He curst the Stops of Form and State, which lay In this last Stage like Scandals in his Way. 1665Hooke Microgr. 131 A stiff, hard, and hollow Cane, or Reed, without any kind of knot, or stop, from its bottom. 1725N. 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.
a1586Sidney 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.
1585Higins Junius' Nomencl. 391/2 Septum,..a sluce: a floudgate, or water stop. 1641J. Taylor (Water P.) Last Voy. A 4 b, Every Stoppe and Weare. 1681Delaune 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. 1793Rep. Comm. Ho. Comm. (1803) XIV. 233 Between Day's and Sutton Locks there requires a stop or pound lock at or near Clifton Ferry. 1800Trans. 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.
1666G. Harvey Morbus Angl. xxvi. (1672) 58 Like a Labyrinth divided into several stops, turnings or windings, where at each division we must halt, [etc.]. 1718Switzer 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. 1882Encycl. 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. A piece of mechanism (e.g. a pin, bolt, shoulder, a strip or block of wood) which 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.
1523–34Fitzherb. Husb. §139 Thou muste haue made redy a ponch of harde wood, with a stop and a tenaunte on the one syde. 1552Huloet, Stoppe whych reteygneth a wheale of hys cowrse, sufflamen. 1770Luckombe Hist. Printing 314 On the hither end of this square pin is made a sholder or stop. 1784Bramah in Repert. 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. 1845G. 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. 1857W. 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. 1870Tyndall Heat i. §6. 5 The current generated would dash the needle violently against its stops and probably derange its magnetism. 1897Encycl. Sport I. 342/1 (Driving), Stops, hooks upon the shafts which prevent the harness from slipping forward. 1897Allbutt's Syst. Med. II. 229 Stops should be fixed in the sash-grooves, so that neither sash can be opened more than six inches. 1901J. 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.
1833Loudon Encycl. Archit. §239 Stops (a term variously applied, but chiefly to slips nailed on for doors or shutters to shut against). 1881Young 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.
1701Lond. Gaz. No. 3692/4 Lost.., a Watch with a double Case.., with Minutes, Seconds, and Stops.
d. Clockwork. A contrivance to prevent overwinding.
1675J. 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. 1873Nelthropp 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. 1875Knight 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.)
1880J. W. 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.
1891Century Dict.
10. Naut.
a. A piece of small line used to fasten or secure anything.
1846A. 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. 1875Bedford Sailor's Pocket Bk. vii. 216 When the boat is beached, the stops which hang the gangboards alongside are to be let go. 1887Daily 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]. 1867Smyth 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.)
1891Century 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 than its intended position. The double stop is generally used for deeper carlines than the single stop.
11. Arch. An ornamental termination to a chamfer.
1825J. Nicholson Operat. Mech. 604 In grooving, the stops are paid over and above. 1845Builder 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 n. 4 a. Also in Photogr., a diaphragm or (orig.) a perforated plate for reducing the effective diameter of the lens of a camera or enlarger (now usu. built into the apparatus); hence used as a unit of change of relative aperture (or exposure or film speed), a reduction of one stop being equivalent to a halving of any of these.
1831Brewster Optics xliii. 361 The stop or diaphragm must be placed half way between the two lenses. 1858Sutton & Worden Dict. Photogr. 255 The principle of this form of lens will be best understood by discussing, in the first place, the case of a single plano⁓convex lens, with a stop in front. 1883Photogr. Simplified 23 Always focus with the largest stop, so as to get as much light as possible, and afterwards insert a stop which gives the necessary sharpness. 1888Rutley Rock-Forming Min. 28 The eye-piece must of course be provided with a stop. 1902G. B. Shaw Let. 11 Aug. (1972) II. 282 A slow plate and a suitably small stop will prolong the exposure sufficiently to make it manageable by hand with a cap. 1955Morgan & Lester Leica Man. (ed. 13) ii. 75 With lenses of short focal length, the addition of 62·5mm extension results in the true aperture being nearly 2 stops smaller than the marked f-numbers. 1961G. Millerson Telev. Production iii. 36 Lens diaphragms are graduated in units called stops or f-numbers. 1977H. Innes Big Footprints ii. iii. 179 The light's going to be tricky... It'll soon be dusk. If I were you I'd open up a stop. 1979Amat. Photographer 10 Jan. 90/1 The extra two stops of film speed obtained by raising 400ASA to 1600 are invaluable under such conditions.
13. Something that stops an aperture; a plug.
1770Phil. Trans. LX. 317 The stop of cotton must now be taken out of the throat. 1862Catal. Internat. Exhib. II. x. 18 Patent india-rubber stops to make air-tight joints.
III. Music.
14. a. In an organ, a graduated set of pipes producing tones of the same quality. ? Orig. applied to the slider which controls such a set.
c1500in 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. 1513in 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. 1541Ludlow Churchw. Acc. (Camden) 8 For mendynge one of the stopes of the great organs..viij d. 1542in Archæol. Jrnl. XVIII. 139 Item oone peir of doble Regalles with two stoppes of pipes coverid with purple vellat. 1667Milton P.L. vii. 596 All Organs of sweet stop. 1782W. 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.]. 1804Grahame Sabbath 71 The organ breathes its distant thunder-notes,..And now the tubes a soften'd stop controls. 1887Ruskin 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.
1585Higins Junius' Nomencl. 354/2 Epistomium,..the stop in a paire of organs, whereby the sound is made hie or lowe. 1852Seidel Organ 35 On both sides of the manual..there is a number of handles or buttons..called stops. 1883Grove'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.
1730in Abridgm. Specif. Patents, Music (1871) 1 It will keep much longer in tune than any harpsichords that have octave stops. 1879Grove'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; a metal key used for this purpose. Also, the hole or aperture thus closed.
c1500in 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. 1579Gosson 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. 1597Shakes. 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. 1630Drayton Muses Eliz., Nimph. iii. 413 Teaching euery stop and kaye, To those vpon the Pipe that playe. 1637Milton Lycidas 188 He touch'd the tender stops of various Quills. 1705Addison Italy, Rome 322 The same Variety of Strings may be observ'd on their Harps, and of Stops on their Tibiæ. 1846Landor Hellenics, Theron & Zoe 61 The sobs that choakt my flute, the humidity..that gargled on the stops. 1913Sir H. Johnston Pioneers Australasia vi. 205 The flutes upon which the people [of Tahiti] played had only two stops.
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.
1530Palsgr. 276/2 Stoppe of a lute. 1574F. Ke tr. A. Le Roy's Instruct. Lute 6 There bee ordinarily eight stops in nomber: whereof euery one containeth but halfe a tune or note. 1599Shakes. Much Ado iii. ii. 62 His iesting spirit, which is now crept into a lute-string, and now gouern'd by stops. 1610Dowland Var. Lute-lessons C 1 b marg., To know how to strike single strings, being found amongst full stops. 1626Bacon Sylva §105 If a Man would endeuour to raise or fall his Voice, still by Halfe-Notes, like the Stops of a Lute. 1659C. 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. 1678Durfey 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. 1876Stainer & 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.
c1500: see a. 1585Higins Junius' Nomencl. 354/1 Modos concidere & 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’. In modern use freq. in phrase to pull out all the stops, to make every possible effort.
1576Gascoigne Steele Gl. (Arb.) 59 But sweeter soundes, of concorde, peace, and loue, Are out of tune, and iarre in euery stoppe. 16051st Pt. Jeronimo ii. iv. 35 Haue euery sillable a musick stop, That, when I pause, the mellody may moue [etc.]. 1684Roscommon 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. 1821Shelley Epipsych. 85 Sweet as stops Of planetary music heard in trance. 1850S. Dobell Roman vii. Poet. Wks. (1875) 138 Fortune..Play'd a flourish ere she changed her awful stop for evermore. 1865M. 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. 1927Oxford Mag. 20 Oct. 3/2 He may be said to have ‘pulled out all his stops’. He gave the University a speech which for ease, eloquence and felicity could not readily be surpassed or indeed equalled. 1955A. L. Rowse Expansion of Elizabethan England 123 As his rebellion progressed Tyrone had to pull out the Catholic stop. 1957Economist 5 Oct. 20/2 A Russian admiral on a good will naval visit to the Syrian port of Lattakia was serenading nationalism with all the right stops out. 1965Mrs. L. B. Johnson White House Diary 20 Dec. (1970) 341 This evening we gave a State Dinner... We opened up all the stops and the Christmas carols rang forth. 1974A. Price Other Paths to Glory i. vi. 77 ‘But they have no idea who did it?’ ‘Not from what I heard... I know they're pulling out all the stops, though.’ 1978P. McCutchan Blackmail North ii. 20 We'll be doing our best, all stops out.
IV. Grammar.
17. a. A mark or point of punctuation.
[1590: see 21.] 1616T. 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. 1623Middleton More Dissemblers iii. ii. 77, I can write fast and fair, Most true orthography, and observe my stops. 1740Chesterfield Lett. I. lxi. 173, I hope too that he makes you read aloud, distinctly, and observe the stops. 1802M. Edgeworth Moral T., Forester xv, The corrector of the press scarcely had occasion to alter a word, a letter, or a stop. 1862Calverley Verses & Transl. (ed. 2) 38 Who..talked in such a hurry And with such wild contempt for stops and Lindley Murray. 1906H. 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.
1830Marryat 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 metre.
1838Guest 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.
d. Cryptography. A character representing a punctuation mark.
1915[see null n.1 b]. 1939F. Pratt Secret & Urgent 18 Stops are punctuation marks, usually sentence endings, for which special characters are provided, sometimes placed after each word.
e. Short for full stop: (a) as used, spelt out, in a telegram; (b) = period n. 11 b.
1936[see literary a. 3 b]. 1964F. Chichester Lonely Sea & Sky xxxii. 333 Another exciting telegram..which read, ‘Delighted to see that you have achieved your ambition to beat your own record Stop.’ 1977Times 7 Oct. 15/5 Sir, Almost all who write you on this subject assume that high productivity is desirable, stop.
18. full stop.
a. The end of a sentence; the single point or dot used to mark this; a period, full point.
1596Shakes. Merch. V. iii. i. 17 Sal. Come, the full stop. 1665Hooke Microgr. 3 A point commonly so call'd, that is, the mark of a full stop, or period. 1729S. 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. 1748J. 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. 1886Athenæum 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. Also = period n. 11 b.
1628Earle 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. 1655Fuller 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. 1711Budgell Spect. No. 77 ⁋1 After we had walked some time, I made a full stop with my Face towards the West. 1719W. Wood Surv. Trade 233 All Persons depending on the Turkey Trade, were at a full Stop for many Months. 1727Swift Gulliver, Introd. Let. fr. Capt. Gulliver, Seeing a full stop put to all abuses and corruptions, at least in this little island. 1798Ferriar Engl. Historians 237 The story thus comes unexpectedly to a full stop. 1815Scott Guy M. xlvii, He drew up his reins.., and made a full stop. 1861Geo. Eliot Let. 6 Oct. (1954) III. 456 There is a point of disgust..which one feels must make a full stop, and call for a Finis in friendship. 1923P. Selver tr. Capek's R.U.R. i. 10 It was in the year 1920 that old Rossum the great physiologist, who was then quite a young scientist, betook himself to this distant island for the purpose of studying the ocean fauna, full stop. 1962Observer 1 July 8/5 The controversy has been between those who say yes, full stop, and those who say yes, but... 1971R. Amberley Ordinary Accident x. 92 Once he sends for a lawyer then that will be 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.
1669Holder 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. 1873–4H. 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 30, and F. coup d'arrêt.
c1450Fencing 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. 1771Lonnergan 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. 1891Century 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).
1575Blundevil Art of Riding ii. i. D vj, Secondly, you must teach him to be light at stoppe. 1590Shakes. Mids. N. v. i. 120 He hath rid his Prologue, like a rough Colt: he knowes not the stop. 1597― Lover's Compl. 109 What rounds, what bounds, what course, what stop he makes! 1598Florio, Parare,..the stop in the action of horsemanship. 1897Outing 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.
1590Cockaine 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. 1615S. Ward Coal from 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.
1812Sporting Mag. XL. 66 Maltby, however, has some slight notion of the stop. 1828Egan Boxiana IV. 154 Abbot showed that he was not destitute of science, and made some good stops. 1861Lever 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.
1840D. 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 n.3 and stock n.1 45.
1669Worlidge Syst. Agric. (1681) 174 On the other side..let the places be left for the Does to make their stops in. 1823Cobbett Rur. Rides (1885) I. 357 As pleased as..when I had just found a rabbit's stop, or a black-bird's nest. 1908Nation 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.
1826J. 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.
1897Encycl. Sport I. 442/2 (Gamekeepers), The stops must be in their places long before the actual beating begins. 1905A. I. R. Glasfurd Rifle in 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.
1867Dogs 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. 1884Live 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).
1902Fur & Feather 19 Sept. 233/1 Capital stops, nice cheeks, good top collar. Ibid., Only 1 stop, this about its only fault. 1913G. 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 which stops the run of a sequence. Hence pl., the game of Newmarket.
1808C. 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‘E. 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. 1886W. B. Dick Mod. Pocket Hoyle (ed. 11) 343 Newmarket, or Stops. This game is played in a similar manner to the game of ‘Boodle’. 1895G. J. Manson Sporting Dict., Stop, a card in Newmarket which balks or stops the further play in a sequence. 1897R. F. Foster Compl. Hoyle 466 Newmarket, or Stops.
†29. Cricket. A fielder standing three or four yards behind the wicket, a little on the off side. Obs. Cf. back-stop b, long-stop s.v. long a.1 18 d.
1773in H. T. Waghorn Cricket Scores, Notes, &c. (1899) 90 All England. May, Lumpey, bowlers; Minshul, Miller, Parmore (stop). Hampshire. Bret, Nyren, bowlers; Small, Sutton, Lear (stop). 1851W. Clarke in W. Bolland Cricket Notes 129 In laying out your field, you should be careful in selecting good men for your principal places, such as wicket keeper, point, stop, short slip.
VI.
30. Comb.: stop band Electronics, a band of frequencies which are highly attenuated by a filter; stop bath Photogr., a bath for arresting the process of the preceding bath, esp. development, by neutralizing any of its chemical that may still be present; stop bead [bead n. 6 b] (see quot. 1964); 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-butt, a slope or bank constructed behind the targets at a rifle range to stop bullets; stop button, a button or switch which is pressed or pulled to stop the action of a machine; † stop cater trey, some kind of false dice (cf. stop-dice); stop chords Jazz, chords played on the first beat of every bar or every other bar, as the only accompaniment to a solo; stop chorus Jazz, a solo accompanied by stop chords; stop-cleat Naut. (see cleat n. 2); stop-clock (cf. stop-watch n.); stop-cloth, a cloth used in cleaning a chimney to prevent the soot from spreading into the room; stop-coin = stop-quoin; stop consonant = sense 19 b; stop-cylinder, a printing press in which the cylinder is stopped to permit the return of the reciprocating carriage; 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 n. 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 which is pulled out to open a particular stop in an organ; stop lamp, a light on the rear of a motor vehicle, which is automatically illuminated when the brakes are applied; stop light, (a) = stop lamp above; (b) N. Amer. = stop sign below; also fig.; stop list, (a) a list of persons, etc., deprived of particular rights, privileges, or services; spec. a list of persons with whom members of an association are forbidden to do business; (b) a list of prohibited books; (c) a list of words to be omitted from a concordance or index; hence stop-list v. trans., to include in a stop list; stop log, a log or plank, or a beam or plate of concrete or steel, fitting between vertical grooves in walls or piers to close a water channel; 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-netting = stop-net (b); 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 n.2], ? wood for making stop-rods; stop-ridge Archæol., a ridge on a celt, pipe, etc. which prevents one part from slipping too far over another; stop-rod, (a) Mining [? to stope n.2], in pl., the wattling of the shafts of a mine; (b) Weaving, a rod which forms part of the mechanism for stopping the motion of the loom; † stop-screw, a screw which clamps a movable part when it is required to be fixed; stop-seine Fisheries (see quot. 1884); stop sign, a sign indicating that traffic should stop; N. Amer. spec., a red traffic-light; stop signal, a signal indicating whether a train should stop; stop-stroke Croquet, a stroke which 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 time Jazz, a stop chorus or a series of stop chords; stop-valve, a valve which closes a pipe against the passage of fluid; stop volley Lawn Tennis (see quot. 1928); stopway, an area at the end of an airfield runway in which an aircraft can be stopped after an interrupted take-off; stop-wither Whaling (see quot.); stop-wool Hatmaking (see quot.); stop word, a word (usu. one of a set of the words most frequently occurring in a language or text) that is automatically omitted from or treated less fully in a computer-generated concordance or index; stop-work, a mechanism to prevent the overwinding of the spring of a watch, etc.
1922*Stop band [see passband s.v. pass n.2 18 b]. 1959Kuh & Pederson Princ. Circuit Synthesis xiii. 200 The frequency where the pass- and stopbands coalesce is called the cutoff frequency. 1978Internat. Jrnl. Electronics XLV. 247 Filters are designed with various frequency characteristics for the pass band and the stop band and also with predefined zeros in the stop band.
1898H. Maclean Pop. Photographic Printing Processes iv. 42 To counteract some more or less over-toning..what is termed a ‘*stop’ bath is used. 1967E. Chambers Photolitho-Offset v. 58 The required number of contacts are made on lith type plates, developed, passed into the stop⁓bath and etch-bleached in the usual manner. 1980D. Francis Reflex xiii. 151, I set out the trays of developer and stop bath and fixer.
1876Encycl. Brit. IV. 496/1 An inner or *stop bead is mitred round on the inside to complete the groove or channel for the lower sash. 1964J. S. Scott Dict. Building 155 Stop bead, a bead mitred round the inner edge of a sash window to prevent the inner sash from swinging into the room. 1976R. Day All about House Repair & Maintenance 62 Broken sash cords are easily removed... First remove the stop bead on the inside.
1707Act 6 Anne c. 31 §1 The Top of such *Stop-blocks to lie even with the Pavement of each Street or Place. 1853Repts. Principal Accid. Railways 233 A short siding with strong stop blocks at the end.
1902Land & 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.
1881M. 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.
1864A. Walker Rifle (ed. 2) 114 If at a smaller angle it would, instead of acting as a *stop-butt [etc.]. 1923Kipling Land & Sea Tales 177 The long shed of the Village Rifle Club reeked with the oniony smell of smokeless powder, machine-oil, and creosote from the stop-butt. 1963W. H. Fuller Small-Bore Target Shooting i. 25 Stop butt or bullet catchers.
1940N. Marsh Surfeit of Lampreys (1941) xiv. 209 When we'd got about half-way d-down she started screaming... I shoved down the *stop button. So we stopped... Just below the first floor. 1977J. Wainwright Day of Peppercorn Kill 120 He glanced at the tape-recorder, pressed the ‘stop’ button and said, ‘We need a new reel.’
1605Lond. Prodigal i. i, Fullomes, *stop cater traies, and other bones of function. 1606Chapman 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.
1941Musical Q. Jan. 52 The second chorus is played with great feeling by the clarinet to a background of ‘*stop chords’, a very effective device of the New Orleans style. 1958R. Harris in P. Gammond Decca Bk. of Jazz iii. 45 Dipper Mouth with a hot theme stated by the ensemble; a superb Dodds solo against stop chords; [etc.].
1942Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §578/10 *Stop chorus, a chorus in which the orchestra plays only one note in every one or two measures as a background for a tap dancer or other soloist. 1968P. Oliver Screening Blues ii. 67 The singer ‘reading on down’ to each new chapter [in sermon-like recitations] against the stop chorus of the pianist or a full jazz band.
1794*Stop-cleats: see cleat n. 2. 1869 E. J. 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.
1881Times 15 Jan. 5/6 The time being taken by a *stop-clock.
c1742in Hone's Everyday Bk. II. 526 [The coffin] is covered with a Chimney-sweeper's *Stop-cloth.
1975*Stop consonant [see pressurization]. 1978Maledicta II. 111 Rising tones in Thai do not co-occur in syllables ending in a stop consonant.
a1877Knight Dict. Mech. I. 671/2 The *stop-cylinder press, designed for woodcut printing. 1980B. Crutchley To be Printer ii. 21 ‘And what do you know about printing?’ I was about to reply..: ‘Well, I can tell the difference between a two-rev and stop-cylinder,’ (those were basic types of printing machine).
1879Crosby Chr. Preacher vii. 191 The Sabbath is a *stop-day. 1900Westm. 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.
1540Palsgr. Acolastus iv. ii. S iv, Dyce of aduantage, or false dyce, or *stoppe dyce. 1592Greene Def. Conny Catching To Rdr., Gourds, stoppe⁓dice, high-men, low-men.
c1767G. 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.
1843Holtzapffel Turning I. 342 This is frequently regulated by boring holes..with a *stop-drill.
1875Knight Dict. Mech., *Stop-finger, a device in a silk-doubling machine for stopping the motion of the bobbin if the thread break. 1884F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 248 The chain would raise the end of the stop finger.
1594Plat Jewell-ho. ii. 39 Mee⁓thinks 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.
1790Act 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. 1793Act 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. 1872D. 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.]. 1898Daily News 14 Dec. 6/3 An engine,..over-running the stopgate, ran down an incline at a great rate. 1902Science 10 Jan. 66 (Cent.) The closing of the stop-gate [= valve] is instantaneous.
a1819Rees Cycl. s.v. Etching, This varnish or composition (which is called *stop-ground) being sufficiently dry, the aquafortis may be poured on the plate.
1858J. 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.
1711Budgell 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. 1781P. 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.
1887W. S. Pratt in W. Gladden Parish Problems 435 The notion that his organ consists merely of a set of keys and *stop-knobs.
1959Motor Man. (ed. 36) viii. 217 Sidelamps, headlamps, rear lamps and *stop lamps should also be examined for bulb failure. 1979Southern Star (Eire) 29 Sept. 2/6 Defendant was fined {pstlg}3 for having no stop lamp, {pstlg} 3 for having no rear lamp and {pstlg}3 for having no number plate lighting.
1930D. G. Mackail How Amusing! 190 His *stop-light flickered almost ceaselessly as he crawled round the square. 1931O. Nash Hard Lines 45 But there is no stoplight For a talkative cosmoplite. 1950How to drive Car (ed. 18) xi. 88 Most cars are now fitted with direction indicators and ‘stop’ lights. The latter are automatic if properly maintained and come on when the brakes are applied. 1978Verbatim Sept. 7/2 The tremendous role that traffic signals play in our national consciousness (it can be argued that the entire Interstate system was built in order to get around—and under and over—stoplights).
1920Daily Tel. 18 May 16/5 The association published his name on their *stop list, the object of which was to prevent all members of the association having any trade relations with the offending agent. 1949Rep. Committee on Resale Price Maintenance 54 in Parl. Papers 1948–49 (Cmd. 7696) XX. 383 Only the ‘open price-cutter’ who advertised that he was committing a breach of the conditions of sale was immediately stop-listed. 1958Times 13 Mar. 11/3 A nation with what is reported to be over 1,000 books on the stop-list had got enough censorship. 1963Times 28 Jan. 9/2 Merseyside was on the original list but within a few months, because of the motor industry's plans and other new projects, was put on the stop-list. Last week it was restored to the active list. 1963[see re-list vb. s.v. re- 5 a]. 1970Computers & Humanities IV. 167 This program segment provides for two stoplists. 1974Times 5 Feb. (Europa Suppl.) p. xiv/5 With credit cards the vendor has to check against the stop list (to check on people who have had their accounts stopped, or cards that have been reported missing). 1975O. Sela Bengali Inheritance xxi. 185, I intend to hold your passport... I'm also putting you on a stop list at Kai Tak [airport]... I don't want you disappearing. 1979J. E. Rowley Mechanised In-House Information Syst. i. 74 Words in a title are compared with a stop-list, to suppress the generation of useless index entries.
1930Engineering 6 June 725/3 Each weir is divided into six bays by piers, between which *stop logs can be placed, while for emergency regulation..low level Stoney sluices are provided. 1973Detroit Legal News 30 Aug. 13/2 Two feet of the south stop-log chamber wall at the Fairview Pumping Station was removed and had to be replaced with new reinforced concrete.
1879Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 312/2 The paper *stop-mount should be printed in black.
1634–5Ir. 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. 1808P. Hawker Diary (1893) I. 8 Went fishing with a casting net and a stop net. 1881Cassell'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. 1891Grace Cricket 223 A piece of ground..thirty to forty yards long,..with stop-nets, will serve your purpose [for practice].
1927*Stop-netting [see run-back 2]. 1981Sunday Tel. 4 Oct. 16/3 A badly-flighted lob cleared the stop-netting.
1875W. Royle Laws Funds etc. 75 A *Stop Order is a proceeding merely applicable to funds in the Court of Chancery.
1840in 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.
1869Rankine 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.
1840H. 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.
1837L. 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. 1884Knight 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.
1859F. A. Griffiths Artil. Man. (1862) 112 *Stop quoins. c1860H. Stuart Seaman's Catech. 12 When do you use stop Coins? When fighting lee guns, or with distant charges.
1653E. Manlove Customs Lead-Mines 258 *Stoprice, Yokings, Soletrees, Roach and Ryder. 1747Hooson Miner's Dict. K 1, Ordinary Timber or Stoprice.
1877,1894*Stop-ridge [see palstave]. 1902A. J. Evans in Ann. Brit. Sch. Athens 1901–2, 14 The mouthpiece of each tube is provided with a stop-ridge.
1747Hooson 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.
1680Moxon Mech. Exerc. xiv. 237 The *Stop-screw, to take out when the Hollow Axis moves in the Moving Coller.
1825Encycl. 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. 1884Day 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. 1899Baring-Gould Bk. West II. Cornw. xix. 315 The boat..then shoots this tuck-sean within the stop-sean.
1934Amer. Speech IX. 114/2 Those who drive have to make allowances for stop streets and *stop signs. 1951,1972[see run v. 40 d]. 1976S. Wales Echo 27 Nov. 9/3 Pleaded guilty by letter to failing to conform to a stop sign while on his motor-cycle.
1923,1963*Stop signal [see home B. 2 d].
1868Whitmore 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.
1895Jrnl. R. Inst. Brit. Architects 14 Mar. 350 Pipes should be run on inside walls and fitted with several *stop-taps.
1861G. 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. 1889W. H. Pollock etc. Fencing (Badm. Libr.) 91 The Stop-thrust (i.e. Coup d'Arrêt).
1929Musical Q. XV. 611 As to what possibilities such free-will tricks as the jazz ‘break’, *stop-time, the harmony chorus, an exaggerated syncopation, etc., hold for the development of musical form beyond jazz itself, he would be bold who would predict. 1966New Yorker 11 June 135 The Onward was playing ‘Victory Walk’, an engaging stop-time number. 1978N.Y. Times 30 Mar. c16/2 Even in strongly swinging situations, jumping brightly through crisply muted breaks and stop time, the singing flow of Mr. Vaché's playing is never lost.
1829Nat. Philos., Hydraulics ii. 13 (U.K.S.) K is the *stop-valve, covering the top of the feed-pipe.
1915M. E. McLoughlin Tennis as I play It 56 That is when a ‘*stop-volley’ is employed to drop a ball just over the net. 1928B. Nuthall Learning Lawn Tennis 106 One of the most useful strokes in the game..is what is called the ‘stop volley’... It is necessary to be quite close to the net to play it. The racket is just put in the way of the ball, which drops dead on the other side of the net. 1978Times 4 July 19/2 Ground strokes were spiced with many a delicate angled cross-court chip, the stop volley, the lob and smash.
1960in Guide to Civil Land Aerodrome Lighting (B.S.I.) 7 *Stopway, a defined rectangular area at the end of a runway which has been selected or prepared as a suitable area in which aircraft can be stopped after an interrupted take off but which is not suitable for use as part of the runway. 1980Observer 2 Nov. 6/8 A..DC-10 from Delhi ran from the runway on to the stopway, the hard section on either side, which is meant to be firm enough to take the weight of aircraft.
1820Scoresby 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.
1839Ure 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.
1969Computers & Humanities III. 135 If *stop words are desired, the user can either specify his own or request a standard list which is encoded within BIBCON. 1979J. E. Rowley Mechanised In-House Information Syst. i. 74 The stop-list or stopword list contains words under which entries are not required, such as the, he, is, a and in some circumstances, machine, processing, plant, etc. 1982N. & Q. Oct. 385/1, I understand that a microfiche concordance of the stop words will soon be available.
1869Horolog. Jrnl. 1 Apr. 91/1 Dispensing with *stop works, which..are objectionable when economy is an object.
▪ III. stop, v.|stɒp|
Pa. tense and pple. stopped |stɒpt|, † stopt. Also 4–6 stoppe, 4–7 stopp, 4 stope; Sc. 4, 7 stope, (6 stoip), 6, 8–9 stap.
[OE. *stoppian (only in forstoppian, occurring once: see sense 8 a and cf. forstop v.) corresponding to OLow Frankish (be)stuppôn to stop (the ears), (M)Du., (M)LG. stoppen (whence Icel., Sw. stoppa, Da. stoppe), WFris. stopje, MHG., mod.G. stopfen, to plug, stop up; a Com. WGer. adoption of popular L. or Rom. *stuppāre to stop or stuff with tow or oakum (evidenced by It. stoppare, Pr., Sp. estopar, OF. estouper, mod.F. étouper), f. L. stuppa tow (It. stoppa, Sp. estopa, OF. estoupe). The sense ‘bring or come to a stand’ is a specially English development, but in marine and railway use the Eng. word has been widely adopted in other langs., as F. stopper, G., Du. stoppen, Sw. stoppa, Da. stoppe.
The AF. estopper (latinized estoppare), whence estop v., is to be regarded as adopted from the Eng. verb rather than as a variant of OF. estouper.]
I. To fill up, plug, close up.
1. trans. To close up (an aperture) by stuffing something into it, by building it up, or by placing something before it.
a. To block up (a way of entrance or exit, an aperture for the passage of light, air, sound, and the like). Also with up.
c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xxiii. (Seven Sleepers) 164 Þai..of þe cawe þe mouth of stane stopyt wele. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) xxix. 132 Þe ȝates þat Alysaundre gert stoppe with grete stanes and syment. 1480Coventry Leet Bk. 460 The seid dore owe to be stopped vp. 1600Shakes. A.Y.L. iv. i. 165 Shut that, and 'twill out at the key-hole: stop that, 'twill flie with the smoake out at the chimney. 1632Lithgow Trav. x. 457 Stop the holes of the doore with double Matts. 1744M. Bishop Life & Adv. 22 My Business was to stop the Touchhole, whilst the other spunged it. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Stop the Vent, to close it hermetically by pressing the thumb to it. 1891Rider Haggard Nada xv, The gates [of the kraal] were stopped with thorns.
fig.1596Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, iv. i. 71 Wee..Must..stop all sight-holes, euery loope, from whence The eye of reason may prie in vpon vs. 1605― Macb. i. v. 45 Stop vp th' accesse and passage to Remorse, That no compunctious visitings of Nature Shake my fell purpose.
†b. To close the mouth of (a pit or hole). Obs.
1382Wyclif 2 Kings iii. 19 And alle the wellis of watirs ȝe schuln stoppen. c1425Cursor M. 6726 (Trin.) If any mon makeþ a pit And siþen wol not stoppe hit If ox or asse or oþere beest Falle þerinne [etc.]. c1440Promp. Parv. 477/2 Stoppyn a pytte or an hole, opilo, obstruo, obturo.
c. To block the mouth of (an animal's hole or earth); spec. in Foxhunting (see quots. 1686, 1897). † Also with up. Also, to block up the earths in (a particular district).
1530Palsgr. 736/2, I stoppe a hoole or an yerth of any beest in the ground, je bouche... I have stoppyd all the foxys hooles and therefore he can nat scape us. 1576Turberv. Venerie 192 The Huntsman which would haue good pastime at this vermine, shall do well to stop vp his earthes. 1686R. Blome Gentl. Recr. ii. 88 Having found a Foxes Earth, about Midnight..cause all his Holes to be stopt..except the main Hole or Eye,..which stop not until about Day⁓break, for fear of stopping him in. 1781P. Beckford Th. Hunting xxiii. 306 [Digging of foxes.] Stop all the holes, lest the fox should bolt out unseen. Ibid. 308 [Oxford toast.] Hounds stout, and horses healthy, Earths well stopp'd, and foxes plenty. 1880‘Brooksby’ Hunting Countries ii. 198 For the border meets of either [Hunt] the neighbouring territory is always ‘stopped’ by the other. 1897Encycl. Sport I. 547/2 (Hunting), It was his [sc. the earth-stopper's] duty to proceed to the earths situated in the country which was to be drawn the next day, and carefully to stop them with earth or faggots about the hour of midnight.
d. To close with the finger or with a mechanical substitute (a ventage or finger-hole of a wind-instrument) in order to produce a particular note.
1832Brewster Nat. Magic viii. 204 Seven of these regulated the motions of the seven fingers for stopping the holes of the flute.
e. Said of the obstruction: To block, choke up. Also in pass., to be choked up with (dirt, etc.). Now chiefly with up.
1508Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen 99 And gory is his tua grym ene..And gorgeit lyk twa gutaris that wer with glar stoppit. 1576Turberv. Venerie 193 When your Terriers are out of breath, or that the Belles [on their collars] are stopped and glutted vp with earth. 1606Shakes. Tr. & Cr. ii. i. 87 This Aiax..Has not so much wit..As will stop the eye of Helens Needle. 1648J. Beaumont Psyche viii. clxxvi, His mouth the coal-black foam here stoping. 1864Pusey Daniel 416 Of a well the whole [entrance] was..covered..by a stone,..to keep it..from being stopped by sand. 1885Law Times' Rep. LII. 723/1 One of the stack pipes was stopped up with leaves and dirt.
† f. intr. in passive sense: To become choked up. Obs.
1576Turberv. Venerie 194 The Colerake to clense the hole and to keepe it from stopping vp. 1712J. James tr. Le Blond's Gardening 197 Quills which..have but one Hole for the Water to issue at..not being so subject to stop, as the flat ones. 1792Trans. Soc. Arts X. 52 Injured..by a leading land-ditch stopping, which overflowed that part of the field.
†2. absol. To make a closure or obstruction. Obs.
a1225Ancr. R. 72 Ase ȝe muwen iseon þe water, hwon me punt hit, & stoppeð biuoren wel, so þet hit ne muwe aduneward, þeonne is hit ined aȝein uor to climben upward.
3. trans. To make (a way) impassable by blocking up its passage or outlet.
a. To block, choke up (a road, channel, harbour, and the like). Also with up.
13..K. Alis. 1224 He stopped [Laud MS. forstopped] heore way, y-wis, That ther no myghte, to heore fode, Come to heom no gode. 1375Barbour Bruce xvii. 306 The schippis com in sic plente,..That all the havyn wes stoppit then. 1544Betham Precepts War i. lii. D j b, Yf thou wylt stoppe an hauen (my consayle is) to fyll a shyppe full of greate stones, and then to drowne the same shyp, ouerthwarte in the hauen. 1588T. Hughes Misfort. Arthur iii. iii. 10 The mustering traines Stop vp the streetes. 1667Milton P.L. x. 291 Mountains of Ice, that stop th' imagin'd way Beyond Petsora Eastward. 1790Beatson Nav. & Mil. Mem. I. 159 The enemy sunk the ship at the mouth of the harbour, which stopped up the channel. 1831Society I. 276 The Countess of Avon's carriage stopping the way. 1848Dickens Dombey lvii, Warehouses, with waggons at the doors, and busy carmen stopping up the way. 1911Crockett Smugglers xix, On the other [side of the hall] was a stand for the bicycle..which partially stopped the fairway.
fig.1596Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. I. 344 The Balie had stopet the way of freindschip betueine him and ffrance. 1644Milton Areop. (Arb.) 48 Evill manners are as perfectly learnt without books a thousand other ways which cannot be stopt. 1882A. Bain James Mill iii. 88 He had induced Sir Francis Burdett to offer to transfer the interest of {pstlg}1000,..but legal difficulties stopped the way.
b. To close (a road) to the public. Also with up.
In this sense to stop up implies a physical barrier; the simple verb may refer to a mere prohibition of passage.
1423Coventry Leet Bk. 56 The said hyȝe way þat leedyth from Allysley way to Coundull is stoppyd, wher hit owȝte to be open. 1598Stow Surv. Lond. 187 The other end [of the lane] is builded on and stopped vp by the Chamberlaine of London. 1684Bunyan Pilgr. ii. 65 These ways are since stopt up with Chains, Posts, and a Ditch. 1821Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 50 Inclosure came, and every path was stopt. 1885Law Rep. 14 Q.B. Div. 747 The railway company had..altered and stopped up a certain road.
c. to stop one's way: to stand in one's way, bar one's passage, oppose one. lit. and fig.
1338R. Brunne Chron. (1725) 179 Slayn alle may þou se, þat þi way stopped [AFr. tes vayes estopaynt]. 1596Shakes. Tam. Shr. iii. ii. 237 Touch her who euer dare, Ile bring mine action on the proudest he That stops my way in Padua. 1697Dryden æneid ii. 918, I went; but sad Creusa stopp'd my way, And cross the Threshold in my Passage lay.
4. a. To fill up, repair, make good (a breach, hole, crevice, or defective place of any kind). Also with up. So to stop a leak (lit. and fig.).
to stop a gap: see gap n.1 1, 2.
1388Wyclif 2 Esdras iv. 7 Whanne Sanaballat hadde herd..that the brekyng of the wal of Jerusalem was stoppid [Vulg. quod obducta esset cicatrix muri]. c1450St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 4088 Hay or clay to him he toke, And stoppid creuys in ilk a noke. 1523–34Fitzherb. Husb. §127 And to pleche downe the bowes of the same tree, to stoppe the holowe places [in a hedge]..yf all the holowe and voyde places wyll not be fylled and stopped, than scoure the old dyche, and cast it vp newe. 1582N. Lichefield tr. Castanheda's Conq. E. Ind. i. lxxv. 153 b, Willyng them not to bee a fearde, but to goe forwarde in stopping the leake. 1665Phil. Trans. I. 80 The Chinks are stopt with Parchment pasted or glewed upon them. 1724Ramsay Health 295 He causes stop each cranny in his room. 1771Encycl. Brit. II. 515/2 (Etching) The operator must be attentive to the ground, that it does not fail in any part, and where it does to stop up the place with the above composition. 1901W. R. H. Trowbridge Lett. her Mother to Eliz. vi. 27 It would cost such a lot to stop the leaks in a seven-acre roof.
fig.1593Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, v. ii. 83 We shall to London get,..where this breach now in our Fortunes made May readily be stopt. 1597Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. ix. §2 There..will be alwaies..breaches and leakes moe then mans wit hath hands to stop. c1616Bacon Advice to Villiers in Cabala (1663) 43 His Majesty in his time hath religiously stopped a leak that did much harm.
b. To plug (the seams of a boat) with oakum, tow, or other caulking material; † to caulk (a ship). Also to stop up.
1535Coverdale Ezek. xxvii. 9 The eldest and wysest at Gebal were they, that mended & stopped thy shippes. 1585Higins Junius' Nomencl. 223/2 To stoppe the ioynts of ships with mosse, okam, or tow: properly called to calke. 1865Visct. Milton & W. E. Cheadle N.-W. Passage by Land ii. 24 The continual leaking of our rickety canoes obliged us to..spend hours in attempting to stop the seams.
c. Plastering, House-painting, etc. To fill up or make good the holes in (a surface to be covered with a wash, paint, or other material); † to close (the joints of brick-work), to ‘point’ (point v.1 8 a).
1557–8in W. H. St. John Hope Windsor Castle (1913) I. 258 To the same for painting prymering stoping gilding and varnishing of a greate Lyon. 1680–2Ibid. 321 John Grove Plaisterer for washing stopping and Whiting the Kings and Queens Backstaires, [etc.]. 1693Moxon Mech. Exerc. (1703) 245 A Brick Trowel to..stop the joints. 1842Civil Engin. & Arch. Jrnl. V. 337/2 The walls..of a light buff colour, rubbed down and stopped. 1903Hasluck House Decoration viii. 117 Priming must be done before stopping the work... When dry, the work is rubbed down..and all nail-holes are stopped with putty.
d. Dentistry. To fill the cavity of (a decayed tooth) with a stopping.
1592Lyly Midas iii. ii, If your tooth be hollow it must be stopt, or puld out. 1657J. Cooke tr. J. Hall's Sel. Observ. Engl. Bodies 87 To stop the tooth with a little Camphire. 1896Baden-Powell Matabele Campaign xii, One had his teeth peculiarly stopped with gold. 1907H. Wales Yoke xi, He [a dentist] stopped a tooth for me two years ago.
e. Glazing. To fasten (a quarrel or pane of glass) in a window; to putty (glass) in a sash.
1533in W. H. St. John Hope Windsor Castle (1913) I. 262 For stopyng off vij quarelles in the same window. 1858Skyring's Builders' Prices 93 Crown Glass, Stopped in Old Sashes.
†5. To mend (a garment); to make good or mend (cloth, metal-work) with an inferior material.
c1481Caxton Dialogues viii. 34 Euerard the vpholster Can well stoppe [Fr. estoupper] A mantel hooled. 1541Act 33 Hen. VIII, c. 18 §3 Nor shall falsefye or untrulie make or stoppe any manner Kerseyes withe flockes [etc.]. 1645in W. M. Williams Ann. Founders' Co. (1867) 98 No Founder..shall fill or stop with Lead and Brass Works made up by them.
†6. To stanch the bleeding of, bind up (a wound). Obs. (Cf. 14 d.)
13..Sir Beues 1936 A keuerchef to him a drouȝ..To stope mide is wonde. c1400Siege Jerus. (E.E.T.S.) 48 Leches..Waschen woundes with wyn & with wolle stoppen. 1470–85Malory Arthur xiv. x. 654 Thenne he stopped his bledyng wounde with a pyece of his sherte. 1599Warn. Faire Wom. ii. 579 O stoppe my woundes if ye can. Old Iohn. Ioane, take my napkin and thy apron, and bind vp his wounds.
fig.1594Shakes. Rich. III, v. v. 40 Now ciuill wounds are stopp'd, Peace liues agen. 1602Chettle Hoffman i. (1631) B 2, My hart still bleeds Nor can my wounds be stopt, till an incision I'ue made to bury my dead father in.
7. a. To close (a vessel or receptacle) by blocking its mouth with a cover, plug, or other stopper; similarly, to close (the mouth of a vessel); also, to shut up (something) in a stoppered vessel. Also with down, up.
c1420Liber Cocorum (1862) 34 And do hit [venison] in a barel þenne;..Stop wele þo hede for wynde and sone. a1425tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula, etc. 92 Putte þat liquour..into a vessel aȝeyn and stoppe þe vessel þat þer come none aier out. c1460Play of Sacrament 629 in Non-Cycle Myst. Plays 77, I stoppe thys ovyn, wythowtyn dowte, With clay..That non heat shall cum owte. 1558Warde tr. Alexis' Secr. 31 b, Hauinge putte and left all these thinges in a violle well stopped, the space of two dayes. 1588Marprel. Epist. (Arb.) 11 For men wil giue no mony for your book, vnles it be to stop mustard pots. 1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts 552 Afterwards they put them vp in glasses, and stop the mouth close. 1634Peacham Compl. Gentl. viii. (1906) 71 Having as it were given you a taste, and stopped up the vessell againe. 1712–14Pope Rape Lock ii. 126 Whatever spirit..His post neglects..Shall..Be stopp'd in vials, or transfix'd with pins. 1737Bracken Farriery Impr. (1757) II. 176 Keep it close stopped in a Bottle for Use. 1766Complete Farmer s.v. Vinegar, Which being drawn off..and preserved in another cask, well stopped down, will continue perfect, and fit for use. 1826Art of Brewing (ed. 2) 5 The beer in the cellar carefully stopped up. 1869Tyndall Notes Lect. Light §148. 22 A tube of any kind stopped watertight will answer for this experiment.
b. Organ-building. To close (an organ pipe at its upper end) with a plug or cap.
1782W. Hooper Rational Recr. (ed. 2) II. 231 The wooden pipes [of the organ] are square, and their extremity is stopped with a valve or tampion of leather. 1879Organ Voicing 25 This in either case will be a 4-ft. pipe, stopped.
8. To obstruct the external orifice of (a bodily organ) by putting something in or on it or by pressing the parts together.
a. to stop (one's own or another's) ear or ears. Also fig., to render oneself deaf to something, refuse to listen, to close one's mind against arguments, etc.
[c1000Sax. Leechd. II. 42 Ᵹenim þonne þæt seaw..do on þa ilcan wulle wring on eare & mid þære ilcan wulle for⁓stoppa þæt eare.] 1340Ayenb. 257 Stoppe þine earen mid þornes, and ne hyer naȝt þe queade tongen. 1382Wyclif Prov. xxi. 13 Who stoppeth his ere at the cri of the pore. c1440Jacob's Well 217 Þerfore stoppe þis gate of þin erys fro þe feend. 1565Cooper Thesaurus, Obdere ceram auribus, to stoppe the eares with waxe. 1578H. Wotton Courtlie Controv. 58 Hee perceyued hir eares stopped, and hearte hardened agaynste all perswasions of consolation. 1594in Cath. Rec. Soc. Publ. (1908) V. 289 It is thought he had stopped his ears with wull at his deathe, for he never answered word to any thinge they said. 1607Hieron Discov. Hypocr. 11 When Steuen preached, there was shouting and stopping the eares. 1747Wesley Prim. Physic (1759) 56 Drop three or four Drops into the Ear,..and stop it with black Wool. 1815J. Cormack Abol. Fem. Infanticide Guzerat viii. 127 The avarice of the Jahrejahs, which was so powerful as to stop the ear against the most tender pleadings of nature. 1830Forrester II. xi. 201 ‘Oh! horrid, horrid!’ exclaimed Peggy, stopping her ears. 1896A. E. Housman Shropshire Lad xix, And silence sounds no worse than cheers After earth has stopped the ears.
b. to stop (one's own or another's) mouth: lit., as with a gag or muzzle; fig. to compel or induce to be silent; occas. † to satisfy (a person's) appetite. Also, to stop the mouth of (a lion), to prevent him from devouring his prey.
a1300Cursor M. 17438 Thise knyghtes anon we yeftes bede That we may stoppe her mowthe with mede. 1382Wyclif Heb. xi. 33 Thei stoppiden the mouthis of lyouns. c1450Mirk's Festial 58 The þrid skylle was forto stoppe mowthes, lest þay had sayde þat þay dyd not þe lawe. a1548Hall Chron., Rich. III, 40 Some saie yt he had a smal office or a ferme to stoppe his mouthe with al. 1599Shakes. Much Ado ii. i. 321 Speake cosin, or (if you cannot) stop his mouth with a kisse, and let not him speake neither. 1632J. Hayward tr. Biondi's Eromena 28 The Baron of Ianque..(lest the Lady Admirall should cry out) held close her mouth stopt up with the sheetes. 1648Bp. Hall Breath. Devout Soul 35 Under heaven there can be no bounds set to this intellectuall appetite: O do thou stop the mouth of my soul with thy self, who art infinite. 1714Budgell tr. Theophrastus ii. 9 He..stops his Mouth with his Handkerchief that he may not laugh out. 1722Wollaston Relig. Nat. vii. 148 The controversy may be fairly decided, and all mouths eternally stopped. 1781Cowper Conv. 480 Give it the breast, or stop its mouth with pap! 1859FitzGerald Omar xxv, Their Words to Scorn Are scatter'd, and their Mouths are stopt with Dust. 1888‘J. S. Winter’ Bootle's Childr. xiv, They wanted to know..who it was, and—and I just said it was my sister by way of stopping their mouths.
c. to stop one's nose, nostrils. ? Obs.
c1420Sir Amadace (Camden) vii, Butte suche a stinke in the chapelle he hade, That..He stopput his nace with his hude. 1565Larke Bk. Wisdom H iv, They passed by a place where there was a deade Horse, which dyd stynke verie sore, wherfore the Heremite did stoppe his nose. 1604Shakes. Oth. iv. ii. 77 Heauen stoppes the Nose at it, and the Moone winks. 1681Dryden Abs. & Achit. ii. 457 Now stop your noses, Readers, all and some, For here's a tun of Midnight work to come. 1697― Virg. Georg. iv. 423 They stop his Nostrils, while he strives in vain To breath free Air.
†d. to stop (a person's) eyes or sight: to cover the eyes with a bandage, the hand, or other obstruction to the sight; also = to shut one's eyes. Obs.
c1380Sir Ferumb. 1162 Þe bond þat is fysage was bounde wyþ to stoppen is louely siȝt, Þay ounbounde. 1530Palsgr. 737/1, I stoppe ones eyes, I cover them with my hande, or with a clothe, that he shall nat se. a1677Barrow Creed (1697) 28 We cannot without stopping our eyes exclude that light.
9. a. To close up, choke, obstruct (a canal, duct, passage or pipe in the animal body); to block the passage or passages of (a bodily organ). Also with up.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. iii. xviii. (1495) d vj, And yf yt sinew [sc. the auditory nerve] be stopped or greued wt some euyll, yt lettyth thoffyce therof. c1530Judic. Urines ii. iv. 22 As somtyme the bladder and sometyme the necke of the bladder is stopped..and stuffed and dystempred throgh excesse of vnkynde hete. 1573–5Gascoigne Flowers Wks. 1907 I. 81 The smoulder stops our nose with stench. 1577B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iii. 141 The frostye grasse at this time of yeere, doo stoppe their heades with rhume. 1837P. Keith Bot. Lex. 394 If the passage through the nostrils should happen to be stopped up, as by a cold, or by any internal swelling.
In fig. context.1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iv. i. 65 To..purge th' obstructions, which begin to stop Our very Veines of Life.
†b. pass. Of a person: To be afflicted with an obstruction of the bodily passages or organs. Obs.
c1400Lanfranc's Cirurg. 300 Þe blood..wole boile vpward to þe brest,..þat þe pacient schal be ful nyȝ stoppid [L. quod patiens suffocatur]. 1541W. C. Bk. Prop. Herbes A v b, It is medicinable and curable for those men that be stopped in the breste. 1579Tomson Calvin's Serm. Tim. 252/1 As these men whiche haue bene a great while in a stincking place, become, as it were stopped.
†c. stop my vitals (see stap).
a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Stop my Vitals, a silly Curse in use among the Beaux. [Cf. Stap 1696–1839.]
†d. To make costive, to bind. Also absol. Obs.
1545Elyot Dict., Aluum sistere, to stoppe or bynde. 1548Elyot's Dict. s.v. Sisto, Aluum sistere, to stoppe or bynde the bealy. 1584Cogan Haven of Health N j, Bread that cometh hotte from the ouen is vnholsome. The reason is, bycause it stoppethe moche. 1631Widdowes Nat. Philos. 45 It stoppeth the belly, and nourisheth but little. 1733W. Ellis Chiltern & Vale Farm. 281 The one [fodder] to scour them, the other to stop and fat them.
†10.
a. To shut up, block up (a person or thing in a place). Also with adv. in, up. Obs.
c1315Shoreham Poems vii. 578 Wy nedde hy [devils] be ine helle y-stopped For euere mo. 1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 7368 Þai salle be pressed togyder swa harde, Als þai war stopped togyder in ane oven. a1400Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. xxix. iv. 122 Thi hosebonde haþ my child ibrent, I-stopped him in a glouwyng houen. a1400–50Wars Alex. 5496 And raryfey, a rich ray, he in þe roche stoppis. c1440Alphabet of Tales 227 As þis mason was brekand ane old wall, he fand a grete som of golde stoppyd in a hole. c1440Pallad. on Husb. iv. 959 For thy yf combes ronke of hony wepe, Thre dayes stopped vp at home hem kepe. 1576Turberv. Venerie 196 When you haue stopped them in thus. 1590Shakes. Com. Err. i. ii. 53 Stop in your winde sir, tell me this I pray? 1594― Rich. III, i. iv. 38 But still the enuious Flood Stop'd in my soule, and would not let it forth. 1634W. Wood New Eng. Prosp. (1865) 38 The English..do crosse the Creekes with long seanes or Basse Netts, which stop in the fish. 1693J. Warder True Amazons (1713) 96 Prevented by a timely stopping up of the Bees, I do not mean by stopping them up quite.
†b. to stop out: to shut out, exclude. to stop off: to keep back (a crowd). Obs.
c1530Tindale Jonas (title), With what keyes it is so opened that the reader can be stopped out with no sotilte or false doctrine of man. 1685Stillingfl. Orig. Brit. iv. 174 Nothing would ever be able to stop out the Arian Heresie but the Nicene Faith. 1722in Rutland Mag. (1905) July II. 68 Pd. to ye men yt stop't off the crowd.
†c. To exclude from. Obs.
1567Gude & Godlie Ball. 81 The decreit, and scharp hand wryte, That stoppit vs fra the Father quyte, Furth of the myndis he withdrew.
11. a. To thrust, push (a thing, more rarely a person) in, into a receptacle or place; also, † to thrust (a boat under water). Chiefly Sc.
c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xxxiii. (George) 458 And tak he gert salt smal & stope in til his wondis al. a1572Knox Hist. Ref. Wks. 1846 I. 204 A galay..was so doung with the cannoun and other ordinance, that she was stopped under watter, and so almost drowned. 1607Markham Caval. vii. 26 Take two little round balles of flaxe or soft towe, and dipping them therein, stop them into the horses eares. 1686tr. Chardin's Trav. Persia 134 He caus'd this Vizier to be stopp'd into the mouth of a cannon. 1704N. N. tr. Boccalini's Adv. Parnass. I. 108 She stopt these Billet-deux into her Master's Hand. 1871W. Alexander Johnny Gibb xvii. 125, I..throws on my waistcoat an staps my feet in'o my sheen. 1915G. Sinclair Poems 122 A wee black box was stappit Amang the frozen clay.
b. Sc. and north. To thrust in the point or end of (a thing), to insert; to put in (a plant), hence to stop in, to plant.
1731J. Moncrief Poor Man's Physician in H. G. Graham Social Life Scot. (1901) I. vii. 52 Stop the finger into a cat's ear and it will be whole in half an hour. 1826Galt Last of Lairds xxxviii, I planted that [tree]..; I dibbled the yearth, and stappit it in there. 1828Carr Craven Gloss., ‘To stop in,’ to plant. 1829Brockett N.C. Gloss. (ed. 2), Stop, to thrust; e.g. to stop the poker into the fire. 1896A. J. Armstrong Cobblers o' Kirkiebrae 167 (E.D.D.) He..staps pushioned preens through bonnie wee butterflies.
†c. To press (a thing) to the nose. Obs.
1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts 553 Some Marchants when they are to buy muske stop it to their noses, and holding their breath run halfe a stones cast, afterwards they pul it from their Nose.
12. a. To cram (a receptacle with something); also to stop full. Obs. exc. Sc.
c1400Melayne 1289 Þay..with grete stones Graythe gounnes stoppede those gones, With peletes vs to payne. c1420Liber Cocorum (1862) 34 Take tenderons of sauge with owte lesyng, And stop one fulle up to þo ryng. 1719De Foe Crusoe (Globe) 579 We stopped his [the idol's] Eyes, Ears, and Mouth, full of Gun-Powder. 1768Ross Helenore 137 Then I'll bang out my beggar dish, An' stap it fou o' meal. 1814A. Wilson Loss o' the Pack 19 Dear I lo'ed her, and..Stapped her pouches fu' o' preens and laces.
†b. To stuff, pad (a dummy, garment, cushion, etc. with straw, flock or other material). Obs.
c1400Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton) iv. xxix. (1859) 61 Ymages made of clothe, stopped with strawe. 1525Ld. Berners Froissart II. xliv. 59 b/2 The heed [of the dart] perced all the plates of his cote of mayle and a iacke stopped with sylke. 1620in W. O. Blunt Ch. Chester-le-Street (1884) 85 For flockes to stopp the quishions, 2 s. 1621Markham Hungers Prevention 50 Stoping it with dry Strawe [etc.]..let it [the Stalking-horse] be painted as neere the colour of a Horse as you can deuise. 1626B. Jonson Staple of N. ii. iv, Hee has offer'd To..preserue Each haire falls from him to stop balls with all.
†c. Cookery. To fill (the inside of a bird, a fruit, and the like) with herbs, spices, etc. preparatory to cooking. Also, to stop full. Cf. stuff v.
1342–3[see stopped ppl. a. 1]. c1390Forme of Cury xxxiv. (1780) 25 Take persel and sawge.., take garlec and grapes and stoppe the Chikennes ful. c1420Liber Cocorum 48 Fyrst stop þy capone with saveray, With persyl, a lytil ysope. c1450Douce MS. 55 (Bodl.) xxvii, Take quinces and stopp hem whith ynne with hole pepyr. 1541W. C. Bk. Prop. Herbes G j b, Thys is called Persly..and it is good in potage and to stoppe chyckens. 1599H. Buttes Dyets drie Dinner M ij, Lamprey..stop the mouth with a Nut-meg, and the other holes with Cloves: then fry it.
†d. Dicing. To load (dice). Obs.
1596Lodge Wits Miserie 41 As for Dice, he hath all kind of sortes,..some stopt with quick siluer, some with gold, some ground. Ibid., He stabs if you touch his stake, and stop me his dice, you are a villaine.
†e. To plug (the feet of a horse) with something as a dressing; also, to pad (a horse) round the body with straw. Obs.
1577B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iii. 122 b, You must stop his hoofes with Cowe doung. Ibid. 123 For al halting [of horses]... Mingle Hemp with the white of an egge, and stop the foote with all. 1614Markham Cheap & Good Husb. i. i. 8 Walke not nor wash not [your horse] at all,..but set him vp warme, well stopt, and soundly rubbed with cleane litter. Ibid., Stop not your horses fore-feete with Cowes dung, till hee be sufficiently cold. 1623Ibid. i. v. (ed. 3) 51 Cloath him, and stop him round with wispes. Ibid. 52. 1852 Burn Naval & Mil. Techn. Dict. ii. s.v., To stop a horse's feet, remplir les pieds d'un cheval.
13. To press down (the tobacco in a pipe) with or as with a tobacco-stopper.
1848Alb. Smith Chr. Tadpole xix. 167 He stopped the tobacco in his pipe with his little finger.
II. To bring to a stand.
14. trans. To prevent the passage of by blocking the channel or outlet.
a. To dam, keep back, block the channel of (water, a stream, and the like). Also with advs. back, up.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. iv. iv. (1495) e vij b, Clyffes & strondes stoppen and hold in the flood of the see. 1421Coventry Leet Bk. 31 With filthe, dong and stonys the watur [is] stoppyd of his cours. 1590Spenser F.Q. ii. iv. 11 The bankes are ouerflowen, when stopped is the flood. 1697Dryden Virg. Past. viii. 4 The Rivers stood on heaps, and stopp'd the running Flood. 1776Gibbon Decl. & F. (1787) II. xviii. 108 By the labour of the Persians, the course of the river was stopped below the town, and the waters were confined. c1790Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) V. 100/1 A frame-work..closely calked, will stop back the whole or the greatest part of it [water in a mine]. 1821Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 136 Boys came..Stopping up the mimic rills, Till they forc'd their frothy bound.
transf. and fig.1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. iv. i. 12 Her Father..hasts our marriage, To stop the inundation of her teares. c1622Fletcher Prophetess iii. iii, It is not in thy power to turn this destiny, Nor stop the torrent of those miseries. 1835T. Mitchell Acharn. of Aristoph. 651 note, A princess, high-minded, yet gentle, with the current of her feelings stopped, when their tide ran purest.
b. To intercept (light, air, heat, etc.). to stop out, to exclude. Also, † to exclude the light from (a thing).
1393Langl. P. Pl. C. xxi. 285 Ac rys vp ragamoffyn, And reche me alle þe barres..And ich shal lette þis lorde, and hus light stoppe; Ar we þorw bryghtnesse be blent. 1508Stanbridge Vulgaria (W. de W.) B iv, Thou stoppest my light, Interpellas lumen. 1530Palsgr. 700/1, I shadowe a thyng, I stoppe it that it can nat apere clerely, je fais vmbre. 1538Elyot Dict., Obstruere luminibus, to lette that a manne canne not loke out of hys wyndowes, or to stoppe his lyghtes. 15941st Pt. Contention (1843) 39 York...Duke Humphrey..well made away, None then can stop the light to Englands Crowne. 1619W. Whately Gods Husb. i. (1622) 39 To turne day into night, by shutting the windowes..to stop out the Sun-shine. 1856W. B. Carpenter Microscope 129 The object (provided it be of a nature to stop enough light) is seen bright upon a dark field. 1892Photogr. Ann. II. 194 These will form rabets and stop out the wind and weather.
c. to stop the breath (more rarely the wind) of: to prevent the respiration of, to suffocate, stifle, choke; hence, to cause to die. † Also with up.
c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) xxii. 99 Þe preste..castez a clath on his mouth and stoppez his wynde. 1534More Comf. agst. Trib. iii. xx. S vj, If the doore shoulde be shutte vpon me, I would weene it would stoppe vp my breath. 1581G. Pettie Guazzo's Civ. Conv. i. (1586) 42 Those which blow forth such blasts [of slander], deserue to haue their winde stopt with a halter. 1652C. B. Stapylton Herodian xviii. xxxiv, They rusht into his Tent and stopt the breath Of all save few. 1780R. Tomlinson Slang Pastoral 11 Will no blood-hunting foot-pad..Stop the wind of that nabbing⁓cull, constable Payne? 1785Burns Death & Dr. Hornbook ix, Ye're maybe come to stap my breath.
d. To stanch (bleeding, blood).
1573–5Gascoigne Adv. Mr. F. J. Wks. 1907 I. 390 When they..had all in vayne sought many waies to stoppe hir bleeding. 1685in P. Wright New Bk. Martyrs (1784) 795/2 Lord, if it be thy holy will, stop this issue of christian blood, and let my guiltless blood be the last spilt on this account. 1748Richardson Clarissa VII. 414 The motion set both his wounds bleeding afresh; and it was with difficulty they again stopped the blood. 1825Scott Talism. xiv, He..stopped with styptics and bandages the effusion of blood which followed. Ibid. xxviii, Its [the stone's] virtues are still applied to for stopping blood.
15. a. To arrest the onward movement of (a person or thing); to bring to a stand or state of rest; to cause to halt on a journey; also, to prevent the departure or starting of. † Const. of (one's passage) and with double obj. by omission of of.
c1440Promp. Parv. 477/2 Stoppyn, or wythe stondynge a beest of goynge or rennynge, sisto, obsto. 1523Ld. Berners Froissart I. ccccxxxiii. 308/2 But they were nat men ynowe to stoppe theym their way. 1530Palsgr. 736/2, I stoppe a thefe that is ronnyng a waye, je arreste. Stoppe the thefe for Godes sake. 1590Nashe 1st Pt. Pasquil's Apol. A 4, If I muster and traine my men a newe, that the enemies of God..may be stopt of theyr passage and driuen backe. 1614Bacon Charge touching Duels 33 In case I be aduertised of a purpose in any to goe beyond the sea to fight, I may haue granted his Maiesties writ of Ne exeat regnum to stoppe him. 1665Manley Grotius' Low-C. Warres 315 The Prince..sending before some Horse, which should hinder and stop the Enemy, at the Passage over the Maes. 1670G. H. Hist. Cardinals i. iii. 82 A Cardinal stops his Coach to another that is his Senior. a1700Evelyn Diary 29 Oct. 1660, Going to London, my Lord Maior's shew stopp'd me in Cheapside. 1714Swift Hor. Sat. ii. vi. 111 I'm stopp'd by all the Fools I meet, And catechis'd in ev'ry street. 1726― Gulliver i. ii, We found our fingers stopt with that lucid substance. 1761Lond. Chron. 24–26 Dec. 622/2 Thursday night three highwaymen stopped several waggons on Northall Common. 1809Med. Jrnl. XXI. 218 The catheter..appeared to be stopt by the neck of the bladder. 1821Scott Kenilw. xiv, Tressilian and his attendants were stopped and questioned repeatedly by sentinels. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. xxiii. 164, I was at length stopped by the dislocated ice. 1867S. W. Baker Nile Trib. v. 97 The common belief that the scales of a crocodile will stop a bullet is very erroneous. 1876J. W. Barry Rlwy. Appliances 293 The responsibility of stopping a train in all other emergencies is given without question to the engine-driver. 1901T. R. Glover Life & Lett. Fourth Cent. vii. 157 To declare war on him, means to stop the corn-ships at once.
b. stop thief! a cry for help to arrest a running thief. Also slang (see quot. 1857).
1714A. Smith Lives Highwaymen (ed. 2) I. 67 He espy'd Cox,..and crying out Stop Thief, he was apprehended in St. Clement's Church-Yard. 1758–65Goldsm. Ess. vi. [xxi.] (Globe) 303/2, I had not gone far from the house when I heard behind me the cry of ‘Stop thief!’ 1857‘Ducange Anglicus’ Vulgar Tongue 20 Stop Thief, meat stolen. ‘I have got this piece of stop thief.’ I stole this piece of raw meat. Th[ieves]. 1887Times 26 Aug. 10/2 Prosecutor having called out ‘stop thief’ he was apprehended.
c. To bring down (a bird) with the gun. Also, to arrest the rush of (a charging enemy or wild beast) with rifle-fire. (Said also of the bullet and of the wound produced.) Also, to hit (game).
1845Punch 25 Jan. 46/2 Out they [sc. the hares] rushed from every quarter—so many—that it was often impossible to ‘stop’ more than one out of half-a-dozen. 1862W. P. Lennox Recreat. Sportsm. I. 151 At the first [pigeon-shooting] handicap Moncrieff stopped a bird at seventy-five yards. 1892Greener Gun (ed. 5) 208 An 8-bore [rifle] will frequently fail to stop the charge. 1896Times 16 Dec. 5/2 The task of making a Lee-Metford bullet which, without losing its ranging powers, should still inflict a wound sufficiently severe to stop even the most determined fanatics. 1898G. W. Steevens With Kitchener to Khartum xxxiii. 285 The officer assailed put a man-stopping revolver bullet into him, but it did not stop him.
d. Fencing, Pugilism, etc. To check (an adversary, his stroke, weapon, etc.) with a counter movement or stroke; to counter (a blow, a manœuvre in wrestling, etc.). Also to stop short.
1714T. Parkyns Inn-Play (ed. 2) 47 [Wrestling.] Then go to the Flying Mare, and if he stops that, give him your Elbow under his Chin. 1765Angelo Sch. Fencing 26 You may stop his blade short, by keeping your wrist [etc.]. 1771Lonnergan Fencer's Guide 82 Make a stamp with your foot, and thrust forward at me; thus you stop me. Ibid. 83 Then finish in a Quarte-over-the-arm in like manner with a Stop. Thus you stop in Low Quarte. 1823‘Jon Bee’ Dict. Turf 214 Stop a blow, (ring), to prevent its alighting on the part intended by means of the guard, or position of defence, i.e. the fore-arm or elbow. 1840D. Walker Defensive Exerc. 14 [Wrestling.] It is sometimes possible to stop the hipe by clapping the knees instantly together. Ibid. 67 [Single-stick.] The usual blow at the head... To stop this, raise the hand a little. 1889A. Hutton Cold Steel 34 The vertical cut 7, if given at the head, should be stopped by the Head parry.
absol.1857G. A. Lawrence Guy Liv. iv. 32 His adversary..stopped and countered as coolly as if he had only the gloves on. 1865A. L. Gordon Poems, Ye Wearie Wayfarer iv. iv, Don't stop with your head too frequently (This advice ain't meant for a nigger).
e. colloq. (orig. Mil.). To be hit by (a bullet). Phrases to stop one: to be hit or killed; to stop a packet: see packet n. 1 f.
1901Boy's Own Paper 5 Oct. 14/2 After the battle of Spion Kop, one man, who was hit in seven places, said that he had stopped a whole volley himself. 1915Sphere 6 Nov. 144/1 A man's troubles begin rather than end when he ‘stops’ a German or Turkish bullet. 1916E. V. Lucas Vermilion Box clxxxiv. 213 Poor boy, I do so hope he manages not to ‘stop one’—which is what being hit is called here. 1929J. Buchan Courts of Morning i. xiii. 152 If I hadn't thought of that head-crashing dodge, I think I might have stopped a bullet. 1933H. S. Walpole Vanessa iv. i. 682 Maurice stood there wishing that he might ‘stop one’ before he had to go over the top. a1976A. Christie Autobiogr. (1977) v. ii. 234 You stop one, you've had it, and you've left behind a young widow.
f. To drink; usu. in phr. to stop one, to take a drink. Austral. slang.
1924Truth (Sydney) 27 Apr. 6 Stop one, to take a drink. 1929K. S. Prichard Coonardoo xxix. 279 Geary poured himself a drink. ‘Hi, Dick,’ he called, ‘could you stop one?’ 1936A. Russell Gone Nomad x. 78 Then, jerking his finger knowingly, ‘I s'pose yer could stop one?’ I could. I needed that rum. 1937Partridge Dict. Slang 835/2 Stop a pot, ‘to quaff ale,’ C. J. Dennis.
16. In certain games.
a. Real Tennis. (a) To keep off (the ball) from the dedans, winning-gallery, or grille. † (b) absol. ? To mark or record the stops or chases.
(a)1822[R. Lukin] Treat. Tennis in J. Marshall Tennis (1878) 196 To stop the ball, that is, merely to prevent it entering the dedans, &c., is not sufficient. 1895G. J. Manson Sporting Dict., Stop, to prevent (by a volley) a ball from entering an opening.
(b)1530Palsgr. 737/1, I stoppe on ones syde, as one that is a stoppar in a tenes play or at the foote ball, je garde. I wyll stoppe on your syde. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VIII, 98 b, On saterday the kyng & the Emperor playd at tennice..agaynst the princes of Orenge and the Marques of Brandenborow, & on the Princes syde stopped the Erle of Deuonshyre and the lorde Edmond on the other syde.
†b. Cricket. (a) Of a batsman: To play (a ball) defensively, without attempting to hit it away. Also absol. (b) absol. Of a fieldsman: To field the ball, to act as fieldsman. to stop behind, to act as longstop. Obs.
(a)1833J. Nyren Yng. Cricketer's Tutor (1902) 34 How to stop a shooting-ball dropped short of a length... This backward movement will give you a better sight of the ball, and more time for stopping it. Ibid. 150 Every loose, hard hitter would learn to stop, and play as safe a game as possible. 1856Househ. Words 2 Feb. 59/2 They cut a good deal oftener and stop much less, perhaps, than they used to do.
(b)1744Love Cricket (1754) i. 11 Expert to bowl, to run, to stop, to throw. 1833J. Nyren Yng. Cricketer's Tutor (1902) 22 No substitute in the field shall be allowed to..stop behind to a fast bowler.
17. To intercept and detain in transit.
1604E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies vii. xxvi. 576 Where they continued many daies, stopping their victuals, nor suffering any to enter or issue forth. 1661Marvell Corr. Wks. 1875 II. 51, I have yours of 22, I wish you had had mine of 19th, but all were stopped. 1667Sturmy Mariner's Mag., Penalties & Forfeit. To Merchants (1669) n 2 b, Your Goods have been seised..and Ships stopp'd and hindred in their Voyages.
18. a. To withhold (a sum of money) in paying wages or other debt, on the ground of some counter-claim.
1427Coventry Leet Bk. 113 And þat hit be rered be þe comen seriant, or els þat hit be stopped vppon the hire of þe seid comen seriant. 1495–6Rec. St. Mary at Hill (1905) 220 Item, payd to thomas Mundys,..wyche he stoppyth in his hondes in party payment that is owyng hym for nayll, the quitrent that belongyth to owre chyrch. 1538Elyot Dict., Resignatum æs, wages stopped for negligent seruice in warres. 1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, v. i. 24 And Sir, doe you meane to stoppe any of Williams Wages, about the Sacke he lost..at Hinckley Fayre? 1612–13Fletcher Coxcomb iv. (1647) 111/2 [Viola has broken a glass] Moth. Did you so? be sure I'le stop it, 'twill make a good gap in your quarters wages. 1668in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 61 Your Grace was pleased to order the said fees to be stopt in the hands of the King of Armes. 1734Pope Sat. Hor. ii. ii. 63 Nor stops, for one bad cork, his butler's pay. 1741Col. Rec. Pennsylv. IV. 510 Since {pstlg}1,500 out of the {pstlg}2,500 said to be Expended has been stopt out of my support. 1832Min. Evid. Comm. Factories Bill 203 They stop 1s. a week of every hand upon the premises. 1887Spectator 9 July 932/1 A new kit was now supplied to him, and sixpence a day stopped out of his money to pay for it.
indirect passive.1802C. James Milit. Dict. s.v. Stoppages, Soldiers are directed to be stopped one shilling and sixpence per week.
†b. To deprive (a person) of his pay. Obs.
15941st Pt. Contention ix. 44 Tis thought my lord, your grace..stopt the soldiers of their paie.
c. to stop it out: to save the cost of a thing by economizing in (something else). colloq.
1863Mrs. Craik Mistress & Maid xii, ‘It will do no harm to enquire the price. I might stop it out in omnibuses.’ For this was the way every new article of dress had to be procured—‘stopping it out’ of something else.
d. To withhold (goods) as security or in lieu of payment.
1761Ann. Reg. IV. Chron. 123 An action brought against a carrier for stopping a goose..because the gentleman did not pay the porter a shilling for..carrying it to the gentleman's house. 1864–5Trollope Can you forgive her? iii, What do you think of Mrs. Green wanting to charge me for an extra week, because she says I did not give her notice till Tuesday morning? I won't pay her, and she may stop my things if she dares.
19. To give instructions to a banker not to cash (a bank note, bill, or the like). Similarly to stop payment (of a note).
1713Lond. Gaz. No. 4619/11 It being stop'd at the Bank. 1722Post Man 16–19 June 2/1 With several Notes in it, being of no Value to any but the Owner, Payment being stopt. 1722De Foe Col. Jack (1840) 21 They [the bills] would be stopped. 1884E. Yates Recoll. II. 194 The numbers of the notes were known, payment of them was stopped. 1892Cordingley Commerc. Guide 63 To ‘stop’ a cheque, in cases where it has been lost or stolen, is to give written instructions to the banker it is drawn upon not to pay the cheque when presented.
20. a. To cause (a person) to desist from or pause in a course of action or conduct. Const. from, in, † of; also with gerund as second obj. Also to stop short, to check abruptly.
Orig. a fig. use of sense 15, often with reference to a metaphorical way or course.
1393Langl. P. Pl. C. v. 150 Mede..on men of lawe gan wynke, in sygne þat þei sholde, with som sotel speche Re⁓herce þo a-non ryght, þat myghte reson stoppe. 1561Hoby tr. Castiglione's Courtier i. (1900) 76 It is a stray out of the way in which he would have profited, had he not bene stopped in it. 1592Kyd Span. Trag. iii. xiv. 74 My L., it lyes not in Lorenzos power To stop the vulgar, liberall of their tongues. 1611Bible 2 Cor. xi. 10 No man shall stop mee [marg., Gr. this boasting shal not be stopped in me.] of this boasting in the regions of Achaia. 1816Scott Old Mort. xliv, What can be done to stop him from running headlong on ruin? 1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. I. v. iii, Your National Assembly, stopped short in its Constitutional labours, may, [etc.]. Mod. I wish you would stop him circulating those rumours.
b. To cause (a person) to break off in narrative or speech. Const. from, in. Also to stop short.
1545Elyot Dict. s.v. Opprimo, Opprimere orationem alicuius, to stoppe one in his tale. 1604Shakes. Oth. ii. i. 199, I cannot speake enough of this content, It stoppes me heere. 1697J. Lewis Mem. Dk. Glocester (1789) 23 But when my Lady Governess..began to tell the Duke the sad news, he stopped her. 1784P. Wright New Bk. Martyrs 795/2 He then was stopped from saying any more. 1825Scott Betrothed xviii, The chaplain had arrived at some convenient pause in the lecture, where the Archbishop stopped him with, ‘Satis est, mi fili.’ 1889F. E. Gretton Memory's Harkback 121 ‘Yes, my lord; but―’ Garrow stopped him short. ‘Not one word more, sir, if you please.’
c. To cause (a thing) to cease action. Now rare.
1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xviii. 415 Was neuere werre in þis worlde..so kene Þat ne..pees þorw pacience, alle perilles stopped. 138.Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 360 And þus þe puple myȝte wiþdrawe þer almes fro wickide preestis, and þe pride of preestis shulde be stoppid, bi which þei envenemyn þe puple. 1593Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, iii. iii. 14 From such a cause, as fills mine eyes with teares, And stops my tongue. 1672Villiers (Dk. Buckhm.) Rehearsal iv. i. (Arb.) 101 Hold, stop your murd'ring hands. 1777W. Dalrymple Trav. Sp. & Port. iv, I fortunately came in and stopped her hand.
21. a. To restrain or prevent (a person) from a contemplated action. Const. as in 20.
c1470Henry Wallace ix. 30 He leit no word than walk off his passage, Or Inglismen had stoppit him his wiage. 1530Palsgr. 737/1, I stoppe, I hynder or let one of any purpose that he is about, je empesche. 1611Shakes. Wint. T. ii. i. 187 Now, from the Oracle They will bring all, whose spirituall counsaile had Shall stop, or spurre me. 1697J. Lewis Mem. Dk. Glocester (1789) 22, I was ordered..to go..for Dr. Radcliffe,..but Mr. Pierce..told them he was in no danger, and we were stopt. 1801J. Thomson Poems Sc. Dial. 15 So whan ye find yoursells incline To steal a rag,..O! stop yoursells o' that design. 1874Ruskin Fors Clav. IV. xxxix. 69 If any one likes to go, nobody will stop them. 1908R. Bagot A. Cuthbert vii. 66 He was about to place the chair near to that of the lady,..but Jim stopped him. a1917Mod. Why didn't you stop him sending that letter? 1951M. Kennedy Lucy Carmichael ii. iii. 94 You..make an entrance if you like. I'm not stopping you. 1970Globe & Mail (Toronto) 28 Sept. 23/2 (Advt.), Make the break with Tradition. What's to stop you? Certainly not the price. 1973R. Thomas If you can't be Good (1974) xx. 180 ‘I wanta see Connie Mizelle,’ he said. ‘What's stopping you?’ ‘Not a damn thing,’ he said. ‘Let's go.’
†b. Law. To bar, hinder, preclude. Const. from, to with inf. = estop 2. Obs.
1534tr. Lyndewode's Const. Provinc. 39 b, The free testament makynge is let and the chyrche, & other aboue named, be malyciously stopped from theyr ryght. 1595Shakes. John ii. i. 562 Iohn to stop Arthurs Title in the whole, Hath willingly departed with a part. 1711in Nairne Peerage Evid. (1874) 141 And all others perills burdens dangers and inconveniences..which may anywayes stop trouble or pre⁓judge them in the peaceable possession thereof.
c. To stay, suspend (proceedings); to prevent (a decree, etc.) from taking effect.
1690Acts of Sederunt (1790) 185 Where any act, decreet or protestation being pronounced, without debate in the cause, is thereafter stopped upon application of one of the parties. 1774S. Hallifax Anal. Rom. Civil Law (1795) 126 An Inhibition is issued from the Superior Court to the Inferior, to stop Proceedings.
(b) to stop the show (orig. U.S.); to cause an interruption of a performance by provoking prolonged applause or laughter, or requests for encores. Cf. show-stopper, -stopping adj. s.v. show n.1 22.
1926Amer. Speech I. 437/1 When an act proves to be such a wow that it is forced to respond to encore after encore and the remainder of the acts on the program must wait until the audience will allow them to go on, it is said to ‘stop the show cold’. 1933Fortune Aug. 92/1 Jim Europe had stopped the show with St. Louis Blues. 1957R. Hart-Davis Let. 19 May in Lyttelton-Hart-Davis Lett. (1979) II. 103 The Gibbon quotation stopped the show long enough for me to consult my scrappy notes. 1966‘M. Renault’ Mask of Apollo vi. 107 This line, as I had feared it might, stopped the show. 1977Times 13 June 15/4 The Merchant of Venice [was] performed by the Ibadan Boys' Grammar School... A British widower['s]..son..was cast as the Prince of Morocco. His opening line stopped the show: ‘Mislike me not for my complexion—.’
d. To give a still picture of (a moving object).
1937Star (Kansas City) 8 Aug. 3 The camera ‘stops’ the action of a chorus in training. 1937Discovery Nov. 353/1 Anyone can find a gannet, and any shutter working to 1/500 sec. will ‘stop’ it. 1950A. Huxley Themes & Variations 161 On Alexander's [tomb] the monster has been ‘stopped’, as the photographers say, in the act of shooting up from the doorway leading into the vault.
†22. To hamper, hinder, impede the course or progress of (affairs, a project, etc.); to hinder (a person) in action or in some proceeding. Sometimes with clause as object. Obs.
c1380Wyclif Wks. (1880) 159 Where worldly prestis schullen for here..ydelnesse & pride stoppe cristene men to knowe god. 1436Libel Eng. Policy in Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 178 For this wee see welle every day at eye, Geftes and festes stopene oure pollicye. 1538Starkey England 36 Puttyng in exercyse many honest and vertuse affectys of mannys mynd, wych els schold be..stoppyd and let by penury and pouerty. 1594Shakes. Rich. III, i. ii. 35 What blacke Magitian coniures vp this Fiend, To stop deuoted charitable deeds? 1721Ramsay Prospect of Plenty 105 The Dutch, say they, will strive your plot to stap.
23. a. To cause to cease, put an end to (a movement, activity, course of events).
c1400Destr. Troy 10105 But Pollexena..Abated the bremmes in his bale yre, And stoppet the strif of his strong hert. 1426W. Paston in P. Lett. I. 26, I wot not whether it were best in any sermon or other audience..to declare aught of this matier in stoppyng of the noyse that renneth in this case. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 64 But stoppe it [suspicyon] betyme, and suffre it neuer to growe to iudgement. a1670Spalding Troub. Chas. I (1850) II. 337 Quhilk wold give the Southland men aneuche ado, and stop thair cuming heir. 1820Shelley Oedipus Tyr. ii. ii. 40 For God's sake stop the grunting of those Pigs! 1827Scott Chron. Canongate v, But I stopped her doubts, by assuring her it had been part and pendicle thereof in my forefathers' time. 1831Greville Mem. (1874) II. 158 Gurney overheard one juryman say to another, ‘Don't you think we had better stop the case? It is useless to go on.’ 1848Mill Pol. Econ. iii. ix. §2 (1876) 306 Even if this small annual supply were stopt entirely. 1898‘Merriman’ Roden's Corner xviii. 193 In plain English, it is murder, and it must be stopped at any cost. You understand?
b. To prevent the coming-on of.
1538Starkey England 180 Of thys we must have regard, and stoppe al occasyon therof as much as we may. 1608Shakes. Per. i. ii. 98 With thousand doubts How I might stop this tempest ere it came. 1840Thackeray Barber Cox Jan., I..popped my shaving brush into Mr. Bar's mouth—a capital way to stop angry answers. 1891Farrar Darkn. & Dawn viii, It was only with difficulty that Seneca and Burrus had been able to stop more tragedies.
24. a. To cease from, discontinue (an action, employment, etc.).
1525Ld. Berners Froiss. II. ccxxxvii. 306 b/2 Whan they had this warnynge they stopped their commyng to the kyng. 1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. v. iii. 54 Stop thy vnhallowed toyle, vile Montague. 1599― Hen. V, ii. iv. 69 Turne head, and stop pursuit. 1795Gentl. Mag. LXV. ii. 539/1 Barley was so dear that brewers had stopped brewing. 1818Scott Br. Lamm. xxi, Prithee, stop thy gambling cant for one instant. 1848Thackeray Van. Fair lxvi, I say I will not have it: and Dobbin, I beg, sir, you'll stop it. 1853M. Arnold Scholar Gypsy xii, The blackbird picking food Sees thee, nor stops his meal, nor fears at all. 1860Denison Clocks & Watches (ed. 4) 343 The clock stopped striking. 1878Jevons Primer Pol. Econ. 66 Nobody should be allowed suddenly to stop work in a way endangering other people.
b. to stop payment: to declare oneself unable to meet one's financial obligations. Also in shortened form to stop.
1766Blackstone Comm. II. xxxi. 479 It has been determined expressly, that a banker's stopping or refusing payment is no act of bankruptcy. 1818Scott Rob Roy xxii, But what will that be to the news that Osbaldistone and Tresham have stopped! 1864Mrs. J. H. Riddell Geo. Geith xxxv. III. 29 The bank has stopped payment. 1879Ruskin Let. 31 Oct., Wks. 1908 XXXIV. 238 Written contracts are all very well, but if the contractor stops payment—where are you? 1898W. J. Greenwood Commerc. Corresp. (ed. 2) 40 The house mentioned in yours of the 3rd inst. is daily expected to stop payment.
c. To put an end to the issue of (an allowance).
1839Dickens Nich. Nick. viii, She has..stopped his..pocket-money. 1865H. Kingsley Hillyars & Burtons xxvi, Suppose, sir, that I was..to stop your allowance?
25. To cause (a machine or piece of mechanism) to cease working or going. to stop the press: to suspend the operation of printing (esp. in order to give opportunity to make some insertion).
1538Elyot Dict., Sufflamen, that wherwith a whiele is retained or stopped of his course. 1703De Foe in 15th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. iv. 76, I shall continue to stop the press in this case till I hear your opinion. 1765Bickerstaff Maid of Mill i. i, Stop the mill there; and..hoist yon sacks of flour upon this cart lad. 1815Morn. Chron. 22 June 3/2 We stop the press to announce the most brilliant and complete Victory ever obtained by the Duke of Wellington. 1825J. Nicholson Oper. Mech. 237 To stop the engine, the cocks at K and Y should be shut. 1860in Abridgm. Specif. Patents, Watches etc. (1871) 51 Mechanism..for stopping and starting watches. 1883M. P. Bale Saw-Mills 32 A new method of stopping engines by electricity.
26. To arrest the oscillation, vibration, or unsteady motion of; to keep immovable or steady.
1669Sturmy Mariner's Mag. vii. xxix. 42 Let a stander by stop one end of a Thred on the Glass at D. Ibid. v. xii. 78 The Piece to be Mounted higher or lower, until you bring the Bead..and the Mark all in one Line, stop the Piece in that position with a Coyn.
27. Mus. To press down (a string of a violin, lute, and the like) with the finger (rarely with a key) in order to shorten its vibrating length and thereby produce certain intermediate sounds; hence, to produce (a note, sound) by this means; to use (a finger) for this purpose. Also with down.
c1500in Grose Antiq. Repert. (1809) IV. 406 In myddest of the body [of the Lute] the stryngis sowndith best, For stoppide in the freytes they abydeth the pynnes wrest. 1574F. Ke tr. A. Le Roy's Instruct. Lute 64 b, Thou muste also vnderstande, how, and with whiche fingers the strynges of the Lute must be stopped. Ibid. 68 b, The first .C. of the first stoppe..must be stopped with the seconde finger. 1626Bacon Sylva §156 In Lutes, and Instruments of Strings, if you stop a String high..the Sound is more Treble. 1676Mace Musick's Mon. 84 Then be ready to stop down (β,) with the Fore-finger. Ibid. 85 After your Stopt Note..you are not to take up that Finger, which you last Stopt, until necessity require. 1784in Abridgm. Specif. Patents, Music (1871) 15 The manner of stopping the British lyre is..peculiar to the instrument, which instead of being stopped by the fingers..is stopped and the tone given by small keys. 1867Macfarren Harmony i. 8 An instrument such as the violin whose notes are stopped by the fingers.
absol.1762Sterne Tr. Shandy V. xv, I will this moment stop three hundred and fifty leagues out of tune upon my fiddle, without punishing one single nerve that belongs to him.
28. Naut.
a. To bring (a ship) to anchor by gradually checking the cable. Phr. to stop the cable: to prevent it running out too fast. stop her! see quot. 1867; also, on small steamers and motor-boats, the command to stop the engine.
1627Capt. Smith Sea Gram. vii. 31. 1644 H. Manwayring Seamans Dict. 101 When they come to an Anchor, and have let run-out as much..of Cabell..as will make the ship ride, or that the ship be in a current, where it is best to stop her a little by degrees, then they say, Stopp the ship; and so hold⁓fast the Cabell, and then veere-out a little more, and so stopp her fully, to let her ride. Ibid. 103 The use of them [sc. stoppers] is chiefly..to stopp the cabels, when they come to an Anchor, that it may goe-out by little and little. 1775Dalrymple Voy. in Phil. Trans. LXVIII. 404 At noon, close reefed top-sails, stopt the cable, and came to sail. 1834Sir F. B. Head Bubbles Brunnen Nassau 6 The word of command, ‘Stop her!’ was loudly vociferated by a bluff, short, Dirk Hatteraick-looking pilot. 1841[see ease v. 9]. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Stop Her!, an order to check the cable in being payed out.
b. to stop the tide: to prevent the ship being carried with the tide.
1627Capt. Smith Sea Gram. x. 47 To Tide ouer to a place, is to goe ouer with the Tide of ebbe or flood, and stop the contrary by anchoring till the next Tide. 1708Lond. Gaz. No. 4422/7 We came to an Anchor to stop the Flood. Ibid. No. 4431/15 They have anchor'd and stop'd the Tide. 1835Sir J. Ross N.-W. Passage ii. 25 We were obliged to stop the tide off Port Kale.
c. To tie up with thin rope. Also to stop up.
1770Phil. Trans. LX. 191 The maintop-mast back stay, to which the chain is stopped, to prevent its swinging about. 1875Bedford Sailor's Pocket Bk. v. (ed. 2) 155 It is advisable to bend the cable..to the crown of the anchor, stopping it with spun-yarn to the ring. 1882Nares Seamanship (ed. 6) 50 How are the footropes fitted? With a cut splice, being stopped out on each side to the guys.
29. Horticulture. To pinch out the head of (a plant); to remove (a shoot or a portion of it) by pinching. Also to stop back.
1699L. Meager Art of Gardening 66 August... Release and unbind the Buds you have Inoculated, if they have taken; prune and stop them. 1794McPhail Treat. Cucumber 67 When the seedling plants have one or two joints, I stop them, after which they generally put forth two shoots. 1796C. Marshall Garden. xiv. (1813) 193 Stopping the plants is to be performed about a week before they leave the seed bed. 1842Loudon Suburban Hort. 495 To concentrate the vigour of the plant, the shoots are stopped repeatedly as they advance in growth. 1849Florist 256 Stop back young plants that have been struck this season.
fig.1875Dowden Shakespere 282 When Shakspere finds himself shooting up too rapidly he ‘stops’ himself, as gardeners do a plant.
30. Arch. To cause (a rib, shaft, chamfer, etc.) to terminate (in a specified form or position).
1835R. Willis Archit. Mid. Ages vii. 97 Sometimes, however, the diagonal ribs are stopped by corbels near their imposts. Ibid. 98 The vaulting shafts are all stopped before they reach the ground. 1848Rickman Archit. 36 The flutes are stopt square, and not as usual rounded at the ends.
31. Bird-catching. To subject (a call-bird) to a process which causes it to moult prematurely. ? Obs.
1768Pennant Brit. Zool. II. 332 We have been lately informed by an experienced bird-catcher, that he pursues a cooler regimen in stopping his birds.
32. Phonetics. To check the flow of (breath or voice) in articulation. Cf. stopped ppl. a. 7.
1867A. M. Bell Visible Sp. 12 In forming Consonants, the breath or voice is stopped or squeezed, with an effect of percussion, sibilation, buzzing, or vibration, in some part of the guttural or oral passage.
33. Technical uses with advs.a. stop down. trans. To reduce the aperture of (a lens) by means of the stops. Also absol. and intr. for pass.
1892Photogr. Ann. II. p. cxxiii, The Lenses..will work full aperture for portraits and groups, and when stopped down a little, will produce landscape and architectural photos. 1907J. A. Hodges Elem. Photogr. (ed. 6) 21 The sharpness of the picture can..be greatly improved by the simple expedient of ‘stopping down’. 1971P. Purser Holy Father's Navy xiv. 75 Can you stop down to make it look like dusk? 1978SLR Camera Aug. 46/1 As the lens is focused through these various degrees of magnification the lens automatically stops down.
b. stop off. trans. (a) In Moulding, to adapt (a mould) to a new design by shortening or obliterating some part of it; also refl. of a mould. (b) In Etching, Electroplating, etc.: = stop out.
(a)1843Holtzapffel Turning I. 354 If the pattern be too long, or that it be temporarily desired to obliterate some few parts, the mould is made of the full size and stopped-off. 1885[Horner] Pattern Making 53 We make a special box to fill up the print as well as to core the hole out, or, in brief, to ‘stop itself off.’
(b)1856G. Gore Pract. Chem. 77 Many articles which are to receive deposits require to have portions of their surface ‘stopped off’, to prevent the deposit spreading over those parts. 1907Edin. Rev. July 233 The lines of an etching may be darkened or again ‘stopped off’.
c. stop off = senses 21 a, 23 b, and 24 a. Now rare or Obs.
1891W. B. Yeats Let. 21 Jan. (1954) i. 162 Ellis..may do some of my chapters himself... Providence has stopped off his terrible activity for the present with twelve lectures for the University Extension. 1892― Lett. (1954) ii. 201, I helped to stop off another man of learning the other day who came trying to get a book from Unwin to do. 1902H. James Wings of Dove vii. xxv. 382 Having suffered him to insist almost convicted her of indelicacy. Why hadn't she stopped him off? 1904G. B. Lancaster Sons o' Men 47 Stop that row, Tommy... Stop it off. 1929T. E. Lawrence Let. 22 July (1938) 666 Dirty Dogs, they have stopped off poor Trotsky.
d. stop out. trans. (a) In Etching, to obliterate or cover with a varnish (the marks, lines, or other parts of a plate which are to be kept from the acid in the process of biting in). Also absol. (b) In Electrotyping, Calico-printing, etc.: see quots.
1811Self Instructor 548 If any scratches..or mistakes be committed in the etchings, they are to be stopped out. 1815J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 775 If any parts require to be stopt out, use turpentine-varnish and lamp-black, and with a camel's hair brush pass over those parts you consider of sufficient depth. 1871Hamerton Etcher's Handbk. 78 Bracquemond..stopped-out sixty times, in order to get sixty degrees of depth in his lines. 1892Temple Bar Sept. 56 The lettering of plates may be stopped-out or burnished away or covered up for the striking off of misleading impressions.
(b)1838in Newton's Lond. Jrnl. Conj. Ser. XVI. 63 Certain apparatus, by which I stop out or protect any desired portions of the cloth or fabric, whilst it is under the operation of dyeing. 1885Lock Workshop Rec. Ser. iv. 214/2 [Electrotyping.] The mould is next ‘stopped out’, by brushing liquid wax on those portions of the frame and wax upon which no deposition is intended to take place.
e. stop over. trans. In Moulding: see quot.
1885[Horner] Pattern Making 53 ‘Stopping-over’ means filling up the upper portion of the print level with the face of the mould, after the core has been placed in position.
III. To come to a stand, cease to move or act.
34. a. intr. To cease from onward movement, to come to a stand or position of rest. More emphatically to stop dead, stop short (see dead, short advs.). Said of a person or other living creature, also of an inanimate thing driven or propelled.
1530Palsgr. 736/2, I stoppe, as a horse or cart doth, whan they be goyng on the way, je jocque. 1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, i. i. 38 (Qo.) After him came spurring hard A gentleman..That stopt by me, to breathe his bloudied horse. 1670Dryden Tyr. Love iv. ii, As some faint pilgrim..Sometimes resolved to fetch his leap, and then Runs to the bank, but there stops short again. 1709Tatler No. 114 ⁋1, I saw a Coach stop at my Door. 1770Cumberland West Indian i. vi, Stop, stay a little, Charles, whither are you going in such haste? 1736Gray Statius i. 40 Sure flew the disc from his unerring hand, Nor stopp'd till it had cut the further strand. 1821Scott Kenilw. v, He again paced the room in silence, stopped, filled and drank a cup of wine. Ibid. xxiv, Pulling the reins with all his might, and ejaculating, ‘Stop! stop!’ 1852F. S. Williams Our Iron Roads x. 227 On a train stopping, or travelling slowly through an intermediate station. 1855Kingsley Westw. Ho! xii, Sebastian Cabota,..being in want of provisions, stopped short at the mouth of that mighty South American river. 1907J. H. Patterson Man-Eaters of Tsavo xv. 169 All of a sudden, however, the jackal stopped dead for a second, and then made off out of sight.
fig.1595Shakes. John v. vii. 67 [The king dies.] Hen. Euen so must I run on, and euen so stop.
b. spec. of a horse: See quot. 1679.
1575Blundevil Art of Riding ii. ii. D viij b, The horse by this meanes learneth .iii. lessons at once,..firste to tread the ringe, secondly to stop, and thirdly to turne. 1601Shakes. Jul. C. iv. i. 32 It is a Creature that I teach to fight, To winde, to stop, to run directly on. 1679A. Lovell Indic. Univ. 215/2 To stop a Horse is, to make him stay short on his buttocks... That Horse stops well. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 183 The Lapithæ..taught the Steed to bound;..To stop, to fly, the Rules of War to know.
c. To pause, stay on the or one's way (to do something). Also to stop short.
1711Addison Spect. No. 129 ⁋9 He stopt short at the Coach, to ask us how far the Judges were behind us. 1825Scott Talism. ix, The baron, however, was a little later of entering the tent.., stopping, perchance, to issue some orders. 1837Dickens Pickw. xxxviii, You've been stopping to over all the posts in Bristol, you idle young scamp! 1873Ruskin Fors Clav. III. xxx. 10 It seemed to him that everybody stopped as they passed, to look at his cart.
35. a. To make a halt on a journey, esp. to halt and remain for rest and refreshment. Of a coach, train, boat, or other public conveyance: To halt at a specified place to pick up and set down passengers, etc.
1743Bulkeley & Cummins Voy. S. Seas 107 The greatest Part of the People must be oblig'd, at every Place we stop, to go on Shore in Search of Provisions. 1794Mrs. Radcliffe Udolpho xxxv, The postilions stopped at the convent..to take up Blanche. 1832J. H. Newman Lett. & Corr. (1891) I. 295 The vessel not being allowed to stop over tomorrow. 1837Dickens Pickw. xxii, It was at the door of this overgrown tavern, that the London coach stopped, at the same hour every evening. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. xvi. III. 677 Thence he travelled to London, stopping by the road at the mansions of some great lords. 1856I. L. Bird Englishw. in Amer. 160 While stopping at a station another lady entered. 1901T. J. Alldridge Sherbro xxiii. 235 We..marched on..until we reached the old shed, where we had stopped three days before.
b. to stop over: to make a halt (at a place) and proceed by a later conveyance. Similarly to stop off. orig. U.S.
1855Knickerbocker XLVI. 604 He had ‘stopped off’, he said, to see a friend. 1857M. J. Holmes Meadow-Brook xvi. 182 Wishing to see a friend of his who lives here, we have stopped over one train. 1873‘Mark Twain’ & Warner Gilded Age xxiv. 218 Once when you renewed your ticket after stopping over in Baltimore. 1884Sir J. W. Dawson in Handbk. Canada 86 By stopping over at Dalhousie..the following localities may be visited. 1892Harper's Mag. Feb. 437/2, I stopped off overnight to see about something for a friend. 1897Outing (U.S.) XXIX. 563/2 Yet would I counsel the traveler whose way lies by Avignon to stop off, if only for an hour, in order to ascend the Rocher des Doms. 1913Blackw. Mag. Jan. 98/2 It was arranged that the party should ‘stop off’ at a small place..on the main line, and should thence by motor ‘side track’..to another small town. 1925D. H. Lawrence Let. ?7 Nov. (1962) 864 It is great fun stopping off in Switzerland to see you. 1952M. Laski Village xii. 173 ‘Shall we stop off soon and eat our lunch?’ asked Roy and at the next field-gate they dismounted. 1970G. F. Newman Sir, You Bastard viii. 244 Stopping off after court for an early liquid lunch. 1971Daily Tel. 29 Dec. 10 Many people suffer from jet fatigue and on long-distance routes often go to the additional expense of stopping over somewhere on the way to recuperate.
c. to stop in: to pay a brief visit, ‘drop in’. U.S.
1904Dialect Notes II. 421 Stop in, vb. i., to call. ‘I stopped in at his house one day.’ 1925T. Dreiser Amer. Tragedy (1926) I. ii. xxxvi. 402 He stopped in, not at all sure that on this first occasion he would be able to broach the dangerous subject. 1953J. Cheever in New Yorker 22 Aug. 23/2 He was rude to his friends when they stopped in for a drink. 1963Jrnl. Amer. Med. Assoc. 26 Oct. 459/1 He was found dead in his crib by a family friend who had stopped in at the home. 1979Yale Alumni Mag. Apr. (Suppl.) cn17/3 Classmates are eagerly invited to stop in!
d. With by: (a) as adv., = sense 35 c above; (b) as prep., to call at, visit (a place). orig. U.S.
1905Dialect Notes III. 96 Stop by, v. phr., to call, to visit. ‘I believe I'll stop by and see Bud.’ 1923Ibid. V. 244 Stop by, v. phr., to visit. ‘Stop by my house.’ 1928F. N. Hart Bellamy Trail v. 172 They were going to stop by for her. 1943T. Pratt Barefoot Mailman i. 11, I picked him up when I stopped by at St. Augustine. 1953N. Gordimer Lying Days ii. v. 48 It was Ludi, he would stop by at the old Plaskett's on the way to say hullo—. 1957New Yorker 2 Nov. 89/3 Don't wait..stop by your favorite shop and try one today. 1964Mrs. L. B. Johnson White House Diary 8 Apr. (1970) 103, I had asked Mrs. MacArthur and her son..to stop by the White House to warm up and have a cup of tea. 1973M. Amis Rachel Papers 20, I mentioned that Gloria would probably be stopping by later on.
36. a. (Cf. stay v.1 8, which is often preferred as more correct.) To remain, prolong one's stay in a place; to stay (to dinner, at home, with a person). Also to with inf., and quasi-trans., to remain for (a ceremony, a meal, etc.).
1801tr. Gabrielli's Myst. Husb. III. 123 If your Honour and you, Madam, will stop to dinner with us. 1805Moore Mem. (1853) I. 181 Now, by stopping in town to-morrow, I shall..get off the necessity of returning to town so soon as I otherwise should do. 1832J. H. Newman Lett. & Corr. (1891) I. 254 Let him [come up alone and] go into your rooms, and do stop in Devonshire a good while. Ibid. 275 Did I consult my wishes I should stop at home. 1857Hughes Tom Brown ii. vii, I never stop the Sacrament... I've never been confirmed. 1858Trollope Dr. Thorne xxix, But you'll stop and take a bit of dinner with us? 1864Mrs. J. H. Riddell Geo. Geith xxi. II. 88 The butler..went straight off to Granny, and gave her notice; and she actually raised his wages, and prayed him to stop. 1898Rider Haggard Doctor Therne 10, I could stop in Mexico for three months. 1901W. R. H. Trowbridge Lett. her Mother to Eliz. xix. 94, I am sure the society at Lucerne would have bored me if I had stopped much longer.
b. With advs., as away, out. to stop on, to continue in one place or employment. to stop up, to remain ‘up’ at one's college or university; colloq., to sit up instead of going to bed. to stop out: spec. N. Amer., to interrupt one's higher education for a time in order to pursue some other activity.
1815Zeluca II. 86 You stopped away from Spire on Tuesday. 1819J. H. Newman Lett. & Corr. (1891) I. 42 [At the end of the term he writes] The Fellows have been very kind, have said we might stop up as long as we like. 1848Thackeray Van. Fair lxi, Georgy stopped away from school. 1857Mrs. Gaskell C. Brontë II. 148 Mr. Brontë and old Tabby went to bed... But Charlotte..stopped up,—it was very tempting,—late and later. 1889Spectator 14 Sept., This..is their notion of a career, and..to ‘stop on’ in the village is to accept a great disappointment. 1926I. S. Cobb Some United States xi. 257 I'm a Virginian—at present stopping out in Kentucky. 1942Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §214/7 Stop out, to stay away from home all night. 1971Less Time, More Options (Rep. Carnegie Commission on Higher Educ.) vii. 28 Colleges and universities can assist by..encouraging students to have work or service experience before entering college, to stop out while in college to obtain it, or both. 1977N.Y. Times 16 Jan. iv. 9/1 Paul Marantz is stopping out. He's one of the estimated two million college undergraduates..who last year left school to spend some time in the outside world, or to try out some other form of education, but who do plan to return eventually and earn their degrees.
c. To sojourn as a visitor, resident, or guest.
1797A. M. Bennett Beggar Girl (1813) V. 37 They wanted her to let Miss stop with them. 1839Lever Harry Lorrequer ii, You will dine with us to-day at seven..: but make your arrangements to stop all night and to-morrow. 1859G. Ticknor Life II. xxii. 439 Sir Henry Holland..has been stopping with the President. 1859G. W. Dasent Pop. Tales Norse 344 She gave the man leave to stop the night. 1901W. R. H. Trowbridge Lett. her Mother to Eliz. vi. 26 Clandevil is stopping at Astley Court.
37. a. To leave off doing what one is actually engaged in for the moment. Const. from. Also to stop short, to leave off abruptly.
1594Shakes. Rich. III, iv. ii. 45 Hath he so long held out with me, vntyr'd, And stops he now for breath? 1727Pope Macer 9 There he stopped short, nor since has writ a tittle. 1826Scott Jrnl. 12 Mar., I was interrupted by a slumberous feeling which made me obliged to stop once or twice. 1861Paley æschylus (ed. 2) Choeph. 904 note, The transcriber having begun to copy the next verse, and stopping short on discovering his error. 1885W. W. Story Fiammetta ii. 32 The groups of reapers that stopped from their work to gaze at the passing train. 1894J. T. Fowler Adamnan Introd. 74 And here, he said, I must stop, let Baithene write the rest.
b. To pause in speech or narrative; to break off in the middle of a sentence. Also to stop short, to pause abruptly. † Also refl.
1579W. Wilkinson Confut. Fam. Love Brief Descr. ☛ iiij b, Yea quoth Vitels..the same mynde must be in you which was in Christ, and there he stopped him [i.e. did not complete the quotation]. 1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. ii. iv. 98 Ben. Stop there, stop there. Mer. Thou desir'st me to stop in my tale against the haire. 17..Pope Imit. Hor. i. vii. 84 ‘Harley, the Nation's great Support,’—But you may read it; I stop short. 1816Scott Old Mort. xxxviii, He had just recollection sufficient to stop short in the midst of the dangerous sentence. 1862M. E. Braddon Lady Audley xxxiii, ‘There's Luke, too tipsy to help himself,..there's Mr. Audley asleep—.’ Phœbe Marks stopped suddenly at the mention of Robert's name. 1862Mrs. Browning Last Poems, King's Gift i, Now what has the messenger brought her,..To make her stop short in her singing?
c. To pause in a course of conduct (to think, question oneself).
1865Flor. Marryat Love's Confl. I. xix. 328 She herself never stopped—she dared not stop—to ask herself why or wherefore she felt thus.
d. imp., used as an injunction to pause in or desist from any procedure, as speech, argument, criticism, and the like. Also in the phrase stop a moment!
1570Foxe A. & M. (ed. 2) III. 2164/2 At last his chaplaynes cryed, stoppe, stoppe my Lord, for now he wyll recant. 1738Pope Epil. Sat. ii. 52 P. To tax Directors,..Still better, Ministers, or, if the thing May pinch ev'n there—why lay it on a King. F. Stop! stop! P. Must Satire, then, nor rise nor fall? 1759Johnson Rasselas ix, ‘Stop a moment’, said the Prince; ‘is there such depravity in man as that he should’ [etc.]. 1839Lever Harry Lorrequer xxx, ‘Well, are you satisfied that this is his handwriting?’.. ‘Why, of course—but stop—you are right; it is not his hand.’ 1848Alb. Smith Chr. Tadpole xlvii. 408 ‘We will knock the neck [of the bottle] off with a stone.’ ‘Stop, Sir,’ said the stranger. ‘Excuse me—this is the way to do it.’ 1865Flor. Marryat Love's Confl. I. xix. 336 He..drew out the packet of letters. ‘Confound it!’ where was the one in his mother's handwriting? The rest were all there—stop! were they? 1887O. Wilde Canterville Ghost v, ‘Stop!’ cried Virginia, stamping her foot, ‘it is you who are rude, and horrid, and vulgar’.
e. Bridge. To refrain from increasing one's bid beyond a specified level. Const. in.
1959Listener 5 Feb. 265/1 The British pair stopped in Five Hearts. 1964Frey & Truscott Official Encycl. Bridge 533/1 Stopping below game, the decision to ‘stop on a dime’ in two no trump or three of a major may be influenced by a variety of factors.
38. a. To leave off, stay, desist (in a course of action or a pursuit, or from one's customary action or employment). Const. from, to with inf. Also to stop short.
1689Sc. Acts (1875) XII. 61/2 Letters..ordering the Judges to stoppe and desist sine die to determine causes depending before them. 1850McCosh Div. Govt. ii. i. (1874) 146 Every event has a cause, and in tracing up causes we must stop at length at a great first cause. 1901W. R. H. Trowbridge Lett. her Mother to Eliz. xxi. 99 Lady Beatrice, who really at her age ought to stop, got a blow on her forehead [at hockey].
b. To limit one's activity at a certain point; to refrain from exceeding a certain degree or extent.
1737Gentl. Mag. VII. 539, I..attended the innocent but unfortunate Men to the Scaffold... I did not stop here, for I carried the Head of Captain Green to the Grave. 1744Kames Decis. Crt. Sess. 1730–54 (1799) 81 If the rule be ones established that a man has power over his neighbour's property..there is no possibility to stop short. 1770Cumberland West Indian iv. iii, Louisa. Hold, are you mad? I see you are a bold, assuming man, and know not where to stop. 1771Junius Lett. xlii, The woman, who admits of one familiarity, seldom knows where to stop, or what to refuse. 1819Scott Ivanhoe xxviii, His charity would willingly have stopped short at Ashby. 1860Rous in Baily's Mag. I. 75, I know the point to stop at, and how far the public will support me in my policy.
c. To stay in action, to hesitate, ‘stick’. Const. at. to stop at nothing, to be prevented by no obstacle.
1676Dryden Aureng-zebe ii. 29 The World is made for the bold impious man; Who stops at nothing, seizes all he can. 1704Cibber Careless Husb. v. 63 'Tis Possible you'll stop at Nothing to preserve it. c1738Pope On Receiving Standish 24 You'd write..on ivory, so glib, As not to stick at fool or ass, Nor stop at Flattery or Fib. 1907J. H. Patterson Man-Eaters of Tsavo ii. 20 They stopped at nothing..in order to obtain their favourite food.
39. a. Of a thing: To cease its motion or action. Of a process: To cease activity; to come to pause or end.
a1529Skelton E. Rummyng 29 Her nose..Neuer stoppynge, But euer droppynge. 1594Kyd Cornelia ii. 186 Whereat my blood stopt in my stragling vaines; Mine haire grew bristled. 1605Shakes. Macb. ii. iii. 104 The Spring, the Head, the Fountaine of your Blood Is stopt, the very Source of it is stopt. Macd. Your Royall Father's murther'd. 1663Bayfield Treat. De Morb. Capitis 181 The more he bled, the more his Fever abated, and when it was gone, the blood stopped. 1707Mortimer Husb. 574 It flushes violently out of the Cock for about a Quart, and then stops on a sudden. 1765Museum Rust. IV. 181 The purging stopped the fourth day. 1771Junius Lett. xliv. (1788) 254 Their whole proceeding stops; and there they stand, ashamed to retreat, and unable to advance. 1816J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 482 Crystallization goes on but very slowly in closed vessels; and in most instances wholly stops. 1830R. Knox Béclard's Anat. 247 The ulceration stops and heals. 1839D. Milne in Trans. R. Soc. Edin. XIV. 458 The Kirtle, a river which runs from Dumfriesshire into the Solway Frith, stopped, on the 17th February 1748, for five hours. 1901W. R. H. Trowbridge Lett. her Mother to Eliz. xxix. 141 Yesterday it rained..and when it stopped for a few minutes there was such a nasty fog.
b. Of a machine, etc.: To cease working or going. Also to stop dead.
1789Cowper Let. Mrs. Throckmorton 18 July, Your clock in the hall has stopped. 1839Dickens Nich. Nick. ii, My watch has stopped. 1903A. Maclaren Last Sheaves 182 You have weaving machines..that whenever a thread breaks stop dead.
40. a. Of an immaterial thing: To have its limit of operation at a specified point. Of a series: To come to an end.
1733Pope Ess. Man iii. 128 There stops the Instinct, and there ends the care. 1741–2Challoner Missionary Priests (1803) II. 19 But the severities exercised against catholics did not stop here. 1806Med. Jrnl. XV. 533 That any particular mode of treatment should stop at such supposed line, and that then an opposite mode of cure should be thought necessary. 1874Gross Algebra ii. 23 If a series stops at some one term, it is called a finite series. 1911H. Bindloss Hawtrey's Deputy xi, His comprehension stopped at such details as these.
b. Of a material thing: To come to an end (in space). to stop short, to end abruptly.
1887S. O. Ridley in Challenger Rep. XX. 204 Every alternate fascicle of the main skeleton stops short a little way below the surface. 1915Blackw. Mag. Mar. 338/1 Alleys, each of which stopped with a dead end.
IV.
41. [From stop n.2] trans. To furnish with stops or punctuation-marks, to punctuate.
1776Critical Observ. Books i. 25 Thus Bergler rightly stops these lines; for if a comma be made after στυϕελιξη [etc.]. 1802Dibdin Edit. Classics 39 note, These verses are stopp'd according to the Harleian Catalogue. 1826Landor Imag. Conv., Alfieri & Salomon Wks. 1846 I. 191/1 Guicciardini, if his sentences were properly stopped, would be found in general both full and concise. 1885G. Allen Babylon x, That letter wasn't all spelt right, or stopped right.
42. Versification. To conclude or divide (a line of verse) with a ‘stop’. Cf. stop n.2 17 c, stopped ppl. a. 8. Also intr. (cf. 37 b).
1857C. B[athurst] Rem. Differ. Shaks. Versif. 148, I think Shakspeare had a preference, where the line is completely stopped in the middle, for a break upon the short syllable. Ibid. 202 Blank verse, unbroken, is still totally separate from complete rhyme, as having no tendency to stop at every other line.
V.
43. Combinations of the verb with a n. in objective relation: † stop-gamble, † stop-game, a situation that ends or interrupts the game; † stop-hole, a plug; stop-loss a., (of an order to sell stock, etc.) intended to save further loss than has been already incurred by falling prices; stop-motion, a device for automatically stopping a machine or engine when something has gone wrong; stop-mouth a. nonce-wd., intended to keep people silent; stop-press n. (see quot. 1888); also attrib. or adj. (of an issue of a newspaper or a particular column), containing late news inserted after printing has begun; † stop-ship [tr. Gr. ἐχενηΐς], the remora; stop-tap, the time at which drinks cease to be served in a public house; † stop-throat a. nonce-wd., that tightly enwraps the throat; stop-water Naut., (a) something fixed or towed overboard to retard the motion of a ship; (b) a plug or other contrivance for making a joint water-tight; (c) gen. (? nonce-use), an obstacle to the flow of water. Also stop-gap.
1579J. Stubbes Gaping Gulf E v, A most strange dreame it is of theirs who will haue thys match a bridle to the french king, a snaffle to Spayn, and a *stopgamble to all practises of competition for popery.
1659Gauden Tears Ch. iv. xx. 566 No violence and injustice can be proper to usher in true Christian Religion and Reformation: these methods have made them so stunted and ricketly, that they are come to a *stop-game.
1562Turner Baths 2 My counsell is yt euery bath haue an hole in the bottome, by the whych the *stophole taken out y⊇ bath should be clenged. c1711Petiver Gazophyl. vii. lxv, The Cover or Stop-hole of the Cochlea cœlata.
1901Scotsman 8 Apr. 9/7 Many fresh *stop-loss orders were put on the market.
1851Mechanics' Mag. Jan. 54/2 An Improvement in *Stop-motion of Looms. 1902Thornley Cotton Combing Machines 210 There are two or three descriptions of stop motions which are applied to combers when required.
1823in Spirit Publ. Jrnls. 261 The accumulated expences of renewals, interest, stamps, *stop-mouth and forbearance money.
1881Manch. Even. News 17 Mar. 3 The *stop-press edition of the Daily Chronicle says [etc.]. 1888Encycl. Brit. XXIII. 703/1 In machines which printed from the type, late telegrams could only be inserted by a ‘stop-press’; that is, the printing was interrupted while the alteration was being made. 1910Spectator 16 July 103/1 The ‘stop press’ column of an evening newspaper.
1591Sylvester Du Bartas i. v. 444 O *Stop-ship say, say how thou canst oppose Thy selfe alone against so many foes? 1672J. Josselyn New Eng. Rarities 29 Remora, or Suck Stone, or Stop Ship.
1938F. D. Sharpe Sharpe of Flying Squad xxiii. 240 Bob said that they hadn't passed by any public houses and that it was after ‘*stop tap’ that they were passing the shop. 1940Dylan Thomas Portr. Artist as Young Dog 228 If you go for a constitutional after stop-tap along the sands you might as well be in Sodom and Gomorrah. 1960V. Jenkins Lions down Under 103 The ‘five o'clock, to six o'clock swill’ in the bars of New Zealand cities—for ‘stop-tap’ is at six—is also a phenomenon to be avoided. 1975R. Lewis Part of Virtue vi. 147 Next evening, after stop tap, he was putting some crates out behind the pub.
1600Rowlands Lett. Humours Blood xxvii. 33 Why in the *Stop-throate fashion doth he go, With Scarfe about his necke?
1794Rigging & Seamanship II. 337 *Stopwaters..on the lee quarter.., may cause the ship to veer. 1820Scoresby Acc. Arctic Reg. II. 450 Making a stop-water between two of the frames of timber on the fore part of the leak. 1832Gen. P. Thompson Exerc. (1842) II. 324 If London Bridge could have kept out the first stroke of the pick-axe, the old stop-water would have been there still. 1844Civil Engin. & Arch. Jrnl. VII. 95/2 It offers little or no resistance to the speed of the vessel as a stopwater. 1869E. J. Reed Shipbuild. xi. 228 A stop-water formed of Canvas steeped in paint,..must be fitted between the continuous plates and angle-irons.
b. Cinematogr. Combinations of the verb with a n., with reference to the technique of stopping the camera between frames in order to produce special effects, esp. animation; as stop-action, stop-frame, stop-motion, stop-shot, etc.
1912F. A. Talbot Moving Pictures 201 When the ‘stop’ call was given the witch disappeared from the stage... The strange effects produced in the witch's cave were obtained both by double printing and the ‘stop-motion’. 1915J. B. Rathbun Motion Picture Making 73 Trick street scenes, commonly known as ‘stop’ pictures. 1933G. H. Sewell Commercial Cinematography x. 155 Stop-motion is..the method of cine-photography in which one, two, or three frames..are taken at one time, the camera being stopped and the subject re-arranged after each shot or group of shots. 1959Halas & Manvell Technique Film Animation xxii. 274 The technique for stop-action puppet work must be worked out in terms of single motion-picture frames. 1966Listener 14 July 67/1 The stop-shots neatly made each point. 1968Guardian 22 Mar. 10/4 The stop-frame technique in which the puppets are photographed separately for each movement. 1976R. B. Parker Promised Land (1977) xx. 122 Powers was quiet. We all were. It was like a stop frame in instant replay. 1980Sci. Amer. Apr. 84/1 A glass is a solid that can be regarded as a stop-action photograph of a liquid.
44. Substantival or attributive uses of verbal phrases: stop and frisk a., of or pertaining to the stopping and searching of suspects by the police; so stop-and-search, stop-search-question; stop-and-start a., alternately stopping and starting; stop-back, a contrivance for temporarily arresting the flow of water in a pipe or watercourse (now spec. a lump of clay inserted for this purpose); stop-me-and-buy-one, a travelling vendor of refreshments, usu. ice-creams [from the slogan on the refrigerated box at the front of Wall's Ice-Cream tricycles]; also attrib.; stop-off, (a) something which stops the working of a machine; in quot. attrib.; (b) the act of stopping off (see 35 b); a place where one stops off; also attrib.; stop-out, (a) colloq., one who stays out late; (b) N. Amer., a student who interrupts his or her studies for a time in order to pursue some other activity; an interruption of studies for this purpose; also attrib.; stop-over (also stopover) (U.S.), (a) the act of ‘stopping over’ (see 35 b) or breaking one's journey to go on by a later conveyance; also attrib.; (b) permission given to a passenger to break his journey (now rare or obs.); (c) a place where a journey is broken; also fig.; stop-short a. (nonce-wd.), that stops short of its proper object.
1967Economist 21 Oct. 286/1 The cases to be heard this year are a mixed bag. Those involving the criminal law and the police—particularly ‘*stop and frisk’ laws—may be the most controversial. 1975New Yorker 2 June 101/1 A Terry stop is what civil libertarians sometimes refer to as stop-and-frisk.
1974Spartanburg (S. Carolina) Herald 25 Apr. a10/1 A federal court judge began hearing arguments Wednesday on whether to halt the hotly debated police ‘Operation Zebra’ *stop-and-search dragnet for the black killer or killers of 12 whites.
1950J. G. Davis Dict. Dairying 62 The feed to the dies is done with a variable *stop-and-start motion, allowing the strip time to stop while the die punches out the shape. 1961Times 4 May 13/6 The stop-and-start tendencies of our economy. 1976Woman's Day (U.S.) Nov. 50/2 If you do a lot of stop-and-start driving,..change every three months or 3,000 miles.
1790Act 30 Geo. III. c. 21 §1 Stand Pipes, Service Pipes,..*Stopbacks, Valves, Fire Plugs.
[1935Automobile & Carriage Builders' Jrnl. LXXV. 4/1 ‘Stop me and buy one.’ The latest type of cycle carrier for ice-cream vending.] 1935Food Oct. 3/1 A holiday spent in a number of South Coast towns suggests that England is..becoming as ice-cream-minded as North America. The last three hot summers have provided a golden harvest for the familiar tricycle. But even more recent..has been the appearance..of the ‘ice-cream parlour’... ‘Come in and have one’ is evidently proving as alluring a slogan as the more familiar ‘*Stop me and buy one’. 1936N. Coward To-Night at 8.30 49 Asked if I'd got an ice-cream wafer... What did she think I was, a ‘Stop me and buy one’? 1939N. Monsarrat This is Schoolroom xi. 228 To..buy an ice from the stop-me-and-buy-one man. 1947Dylan Thomas Let. 11 Apr. (1966) 300 There were stop-me-&-buy-one bicycle boys selling, not ice-cream, but bottles of Chianti. 1979D. Robinson Eldorado Network iii. xliii. 288 Ice cream. Stop-me-and-buy-one, the Eldorado man on a tricycle.
1869Rankine Machine & Hand-tools Pl. K 9, The *stop-off motion..is very simple. 1912J. Sandilands Western Canad. Dict. & Phrase-bk., Stop-off or stop-over privileges, an arrangement made with the ticket agent to break a railway journey at some place where the passenger wishes to make a short halt. 1931C. Beaton Jrnl. Feb. in Wandering Years (1961) x. 226 En route for home there was a three-week stop-off in Paris. 1947Sun (Baltimore) 18 Jan. 4/2 Is the police court merely a stop-off between one back room and the next? 1958Times Lit. Suppl. 7 Mar. 125/3 London, New York, Paris, Rome come to life not as tourist centres, holiday stop-offs, but as places of work. 1977Horse & Hound 14 Jan. 25/2 Cost of the trip is {pstlg}530 return (excursion, 21 days–6 months, no stop-offs).
1906E. Dyson Fact'ry 'Ands ii. 24 ‘See,’ cried Annie—‘See, you dirty *stop-out!’ She placed the hat on the floor and danced wildly amongst the feathers. 1941Baker Dict. Austral. Slang 72 Stop-out, an inveterate gadabout, esp. a woman. 1966F. Shaw et al. Lern Yerself Scouse 27 Yer a derty stopout, you are a nocturnal reveller. 1971Less Time, More Options (Rep. Carnegie Commission on Higher Educ.) vi. 13 That service and other employment opportunities be created for students between high school and at stop-out points in college. Ibid. 21 Those who plan to continue with academic study either directly or after a stop out. 1971Time 27 Sept. 79/3 Still, many stop-outs do better academically than their less-seasoned classmates, if only because they are a year older. 1974Globe & Mail (Toronto) 31 Oct. 1/5 The so-called stopout students, those who postponed entering university immediately after high school graduation, now are starting to go back to school.
1881Harper's Mag. Apr. 767/2 They are allowed *stop-over tickets which give them the privilege of turning their stock out at any place for the winter, and then sending them on in the spring to market. 1884Advt. Illinois Central Railroad, Tourist-tickets from Chicago to Texas,..via New Orleans, with stop-over privileges to visit the Exposition there. 1885Outing (U.S.) Nov. 150/2 There I took advantage of what, in railroad parlance, is called a ‘stop-over’. 1893Samborn S. California 97 The schedule of trains allows of convenient stop-overs. 1895Outing (U.S.) XXVII. App. 27 By stop-over privileges at every point of interest, the Northern Pacific Railroad enables tourists to visit this wonderful region. 1905Chambers's Jrnl. Jan. 87/1 At Vancouver I stepped on board a Canadian Pacific Railway steamer bound for Hong-kong, with a stop-over on my second-class ticket. 1909Public Ledger (Philad.) 24 June 11/4 Philadelphia is named as a stop-over point in excursions. 1928Blue Peter July p. iv (Advt.), A Convenient Stopover. Honolulu is a regular port of call for passenger steamers crossing to or from the Orient. 1953I. Levin Kiss before Dying i. ii. 11 College would only be an unnecessary stopover on the road to..success. 1959Economist 20 June 1106/1 Mr Khrushchev will round off his Scandinavian tour in August by a two or three day stop-over in Helsinki. 1976National Observer (U.S.) 22 May 18/6 From New York the round-trip economy fare is about $1,600, with stopover privileges in London and Nairobi. Because it's a very long flight, you can use the stopovers.
1973Time Out 2–8 Mar. 10/3 More recently they have been performing *stop-search-question late night patrols in Hornsey which have resulted in such serious crime detection as arresting people with a quid's worth of dope.
1747Richardson Clarissa (1811) I. xxx. 213 Proud of exterior advantages!—must not one be led by such a *stop short pride, as I may call it, in him or her who has it, to mistrust the interior?
Senses 15 e, f in Dict. become 15 f, g. Add: [15.] e. Boxing. To defeat (an opponent) by a knockout. orig. U.S.
1895in Funk's Stand. Dict. 1921H. C. Witwer in Collier's 19 Feb. 22/4 He packed a wicked right and had stopped a lot of good men before Kid Roberts cut him short with a one-round knockout. 1939Ring May 14/2 Corbett won the Championship by stopping John L. Sullivan in the twenty-first round. 1949P. Cummings Dict. Sports 433/2 A boxer ‘stops’ his opponent in the third round. 1976Liverpool Echo 6 Dec. 16/6 A capacity crowd saw Harry Orr (Salisbury) take the top junior trophy for stopping Steve Crighton (Birch Green, Skelmersdale) in two rounds. 1986World Boxing Sept. 6/2 Hilton completely dominated the entire fight before finally stopping Benitez in the ninth.
h. Racing. To check (a horse) in order to stay out of the running; = pull v. 17 a. Also transf.
1954R. Dahl Someone like You 232 Wouldn't it be safer if we use Jackie all the time and simply stop him the first half dozen races so he come last? 1960C. Smirke Finishing Post iv. 38 To ‘stop’ a horse without being detected requires greater skill and jockeyship than to win. 1962D. Francis Dead Cert iv. 34 There had been rumours..that Sandy had ‘stopped’ a few horses and had been rewarded handsomely by bookmakers. 1982T. Biddlecombe Winner's Disclosure iii. 43 What I absolutely abhor is the truly unscrupulous individual who will persuade a jockey to stop a horse or deliberately not win a race, for financial reward.
▪ IV. stop
see stoop n.2 |