traffic stop

noun

plural traffic stops
: an instance of police stopping a driver (as for speeding or a broken taillight)
She was pulled over for a routine traffic stop.
an officer making a traffic stop

Examples of traffic stop in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
In Toledo, a misread contributed to a Black man being mauled by a police K-9 dog after a traffic stop. Jennifer Jolly, USA Today, 14 Sep. 2025 Bennett Lembke, a 34-year-old Caldwell resident, was arrested following a traffic stop in Thurston County, Washington, after Boise police identified him as the suspect and issued a warrant, the agency said in a news release Thursday evening. Alex Brizee, Idaho Statesman, 12 Sep. 2025 McLaughlin said that one of the men, Jose Herazo-Mexicanos, from Guatemala, was detained during a traffic stop. Dan Gooding, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Sep. 2025 That's a 165% increase in traffic stops and a 242% increase in citations over the same time period in 2024. Kelly Meyerhofer, jsonline.com, 10 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for traffic stop

Word History

First Known Use

1953, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of traffic stop was in 1953

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Traffic stop.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/traffic%20stop. Accessed 16 Sep. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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