as in hesitated
to come to a temporary halt in one's activity
he paused for a moment to regain his composure
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Recent Examples of paused
The mailman paused, checking to see if anyone had noticed or knew the puppy had escaped.
—
Liz O'Connell, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 Nov. 2025
Nearby, Kristen Stewart — who later delivered a keynote speech — paused for the cameras in head-to-toe Chanel, ever the house’s muse.
—Ryma Chikhoune, Footwear News, 5 Nov. 2025
Companies including Google and Elon Musk’s xAI also paused work with Scale after the deal, according to multiple media reports.
—Ashley Capoot, CNBC, 4 Nov. 2025
However, the Wikimedia Foundation paused the trial on the second day after backlash from editors.
—PC Magazine, 4 Nov. 2025
But the deployment remains paused because of another of Immergut’s orders that the administration didn’t appeal.
—Bart Jansen, USA Today, 3 Nov. 2025
O’Neil previously spent nearly a full season in charge of Bournemouth, succeeding Scott Parker on a caretaker basis in August 2022, before being named permanent head coach in November after the league had paused for the mid-season World Cup.
—David Ornstein, New York Times, 3 Nov. 2025
Several lawsuits and protests have arisen in response, and last month, a court order paused all activity related to the project.
—Sophie Hartley, IndyStar, 29 Oct. 2025
Those runs are paused during the day, when inference workloads increase.
—Reed Albergotti, semafor.com, 29 Oct. 2025
Liz O'Connell, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 Nov. 2025
Nearby, Kristen Stewart — who later delivered a keynote speech — paused for the cameras in head-to-toe Chanel, ever the house’s muse.
—Ryma Chikhoune, Footwear News, 5 Nov. 2025
Companies including Google and Elon Musk’s xAI also paused work with Scale after the deal, according to multiple media reports.
—Ashley Capoot, CNBC, 4 Nov. 2025
However, the Wikimedia Foundation paused the trial on the second day after backlash from editors.
—PC Magazine, 4 Nov. 2025
But the deployment remains paused because of another of Immergut’s orders that the administration didn’t appeal.
—Bart Jansen, USA Today, 3 Nov. 2025
O’Neil previously spent nearly a full season in charge of Bournemouth, succeeding Scott Parker on a caretaker basis in August 2022, before being named permanent head coach in November after the league had paused for the mid-season World Cup.
—David Ornstein, New York Times, 3 Nov. 2025
Several lawsuits and protests have arisen in response, and last month, a court order paused all activity related to the project.
—Sophie Hartley, IndyStar, 29 Oct. 2025
Those runs are paused during the day, when inference workloads increase.
—Reed Albergotti, semafor.com, 29 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for paused
hesitated
Verb
-
The moment highlighted a shift from March, when Jeffries hesitated to endorse Schumer after a previous bipartisan funding agreement.—
Hannah Parry,
MSNBC Newsweek,
10 Nov. 2025
-
Many establishment Democrats hesitated or declined to endorse their party's choice for mayor, and moderate-to-conservative power brokers united behind Cuomo's third-party candidacy.—
Kyler Alvord,
PEOPLE,
5 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Paused.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/paused. Accessed 13 Nov. 2025.
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