as in hesitating
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 pausing
Terjesen used hand gestures to emphasize some lines, pausing more at punctuation than at line breaks.
—
Jemma Stephenson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 Feb. 2026
In a jean jacket and black dress, Savannah Guthrie walked through prickly pear cactus fields, even pausing to poke the thorny plants.
—Chris Kenning, USA Today, 4 Feb. 2026
Rather than pausing to reassess the safety of these tactics, Defend the 612 launched a series of 90-minute trainings.
—Christina Buttons, Washington Post, 3 Feb. 2026
Giving things a second life—or a third—is a gift of the young architect, who over her decade-long career, has turned tree trunks into tables and tables into storage trunks, never pausing to question an object’s value—or any seeming lack thereof.
—Vaishnavi Nayel Talawadekar, Architectural Digest, 3 Feb. 2026
Two of the members, Bob Mothersbaugh and Gerald Casale, wore anti-ICE pins on their jacket lapels while pausing for photos with their bandmate Mark Mothersbaugh.
—Saba Hamedy, NBC news, 1 Feb. 2026
Lady Gaga faced mixed reactions online this week after a video surfaced of her pausing a concert in Tokyo, Japan, to condemn ICE enforcement operations.
—Brie Stimson, FOXNews.com, 31 Jan. 2026
The shelter is temporarily pausing the intake of healthy stray dogs in order to control the spread of the bacterium infection, according to a news release from Front Street Animal Shelter.
—Veronica Fernandez-Alvarado
january 30, Sacbee.com, 30 Jan. 2026
Some watched short-form videos while others thumbed through their feeds, pausing every so often to tap a like on a post.
—Sonja Sharp, Los Angeles Times, 27 Jan. 2026
Jemma Stephenson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 Feb. 2026
In a jean jacket and black dress, Savannah Guthrie walked through prickly pear cactus fields, even pausing to poke the thorny plants.
—Chris Kenning, USA Today, 4 Feb. 2026
Rather than pausing to reassess the safety of these tactics, Defend the 612 launched a series of 90-minute trainings.
—Christina Buttons, Washington Post, 3 Feb. 2026
Giving things a second life—or a third—is a gift of the young architect, who over her decade-long career, has turned tree trunks into tables and tables into storage trunks, never pausing to question an object’s value—or any seeming lack thereof.
—Vaishnavi Nayel Talawadekar, Architectural Digest, 3 Feb. 2026
Two of the members, Bob Mothersbaugh and Gerald Casale, wore anti-ICE pins on their jacket lapels while pausing for photos with their bandmate Mark Mothersbaugh.
—Saba Hamedy, NBC news, 1 Feb. 2026
Lady Gaga faced mixed reactions online this week after a video surfaced of her pausing a concert in Tokyo, Japan, to condemn ICE enforcement operations.
—Brie Stimson, FOXNews.com, 31 Jan. 2026
The shelter is temporarily pausing the intake of healthy stray dogs in order to control the spread of the bacterium infection, according to a news release from Front Street Animal Shelter.
—Veronica Fernandez-Alvarado
january 30, Sacbee.com, 30 Jan. 2026
Some watched short-form videos while others thumbed through their feeds, pausing every so often to tap a like on a post.
—Sonja Sharp, Los Angeles Times, 27 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pausing
hesitating
Verb
-
However, if large enterprises are hesitating to commit and implement, that’s a broader industry headwind impacting everyone, not just SAP.—
Trefis Team,
Forbes.com,
30 Jan. 2026
-
The appeals court, however, said staying the injunction serves the public interest by preventing federal agents from hesitating while carrying out lawful duties.—
Kaelan Deese,
The Washington Examiner,
27 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Pausing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pausing. Accessed 8 Feb. 2026.
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