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
The Barca team also participated — in defiance of their own club hierarchy — by pausing during the first 15 seconds of their match at home to Girona the previous day.
—
Dermot Corrigan, New York Times, 25 Oct. 2025
The news in the whiskey industry has not been very good as of late—there have been layoffs, distilleries are pausing production, and overall sales figures have dropped as people are drinking less, spending less, and tariffs have wreaked havoc upon the market.
—Jonah Flicker, Robb Report, 24 Oct. 2025
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is pausing food assistance benefits in November until further notice.
—Nushrat Rahman, Freep.com, 23 Oct. 2025
Her video featured her usual format of showing herself making an iced coffee before pausing to speak to the camera.
—Madison E. Goldberg, PEOPLE, 22 Oct. 2025
The company also hired CEO Alexandr Wang for Scale AI before pausing hiring and entering a restructuring phase.
—Suzanne Blake, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 Oct. 2025
America’s largest private employer, Walmart, is pausing job offers to foreign candidates in need of H-1B visas to work in the United States, according to reports from Bloomberg and CNN.
—Fernando Cervantes Jr, USA Today, 22 Oct. 2025
Walmart, America’s largest private-sector employer, is pausing job offers to foreign candidates needing H-1B visas to work in the United States, a company spokesperson told CNN.
—Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN Money, 21 Oct. 2025
This means, cutting back on takeout and cooking more at home, pausing a couple extracurricular activities, and cutting all discretionary shopping.
—Hannah Nwoko, Parents, 21 Oct. 2025
Dermot Corrigan, New York Times, 25 Oct. 2025
The news in the whiskey industry has not been very good as of late—there have been layoffs, distilleries are pausing production, and overall sales figures have dropped as people are drinking less, spending less, and tariffs have wreaked havoc upon the market.
—Jonah Flicker, Robb Report, 24 Oct. 2025
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is pausing food assistance benefits in November until further notice.
—Nushrat Rahman, Freep.com, 23 Oct. 2025
Her video featured her usual format of showing herself making an iced coffee before pausing to speak to the camera.
—Madison E. Goldberg, PEOPLE, 22 Oct. 2025
The company also hired CEO Alexandr Wang for Scale AI before pausing hiring and entering a restructuring phase.
—Suzanne Blake, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 Oct. 2025
America’s largest private employer, Walmart, is pausing job offers to foreign candidates in need of H-1B visas to work in the United States, according to reports from Bloomberg and CNN.
—Fernando Cervantes Jr, USA Today, 22 Oct. 2025
Walmart, America’s largest private-sector employer, is pausing job offers to foreign candidates needing H-1B visas to work in the United States, a company spokesperson told CNN.
—Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN Money, 21 Oct. 2025
This means, cutting back on takeout and cooking more at home, pausing a couple extracurricular activities, and cutting all discretionary shopping.
—Hannah Nwoko, Parents, 21 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pausing
hesitating
Verb
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For now, Ian’s hesitating to tell Mike.—
Noel Murray,
Vulture,
26 Oct. 2025
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Because life—even for us jaded adults—should be for the seizing, not for hesitating in the face of fear.—
Elisabeth Sherman,
Parents,
9 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Pausing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pausing. Accessed 5 Nov. 2025.
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