1
as in to cease
to bring (as an action or operation) to an immediate end
the manufacturer will stop selling the toy and will immediately recall all the units that have already been sold
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to halt
to bring (something) to a standstill
traffic was stopped for over an hour by the overturned truck
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in to fill
to close up so that no empty spaces remain
I stopped the mouse hole with plaster
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in to end
to come to an end
the music stopped but we kept on dancing
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
5
as in to overcome
to achieve a victory over
they were eventually stopped by the best team in the league
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
2
as in station
a regular stopping place
had lunch on a picnic table at a shady rest stop along the highway
Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in obstacle
something that makes movement or progress difficult
pulled out all the stops and presented the most spectacular show ever
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in halt
the stopping of a process or activity
put a stop to this nonsense
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in to visit
to make a brief visit
stop by on your way to the game so we can go there together
Synonyms & Similar Words
as in to block
to prevent passage through by filling with something
clear the leaves out of the rain gutters so they don't stop up the downspouts again
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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.
Recent Examples of stop
Kyle Denis, Billboard, 24 Feb. 2026
Encouragingly, the front office did stop flirting with the cap floor, spending firmly above it, albeit nowhere near the ceiling, over the summer.
—Andrew Knoll, Oc Register, 24 Feb. 2026
Roxana Popescu, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Feb. 2026
Leave plenty of distance between you and the vehicle in front of you to account for sudden stops or changes in the traffic pattern.
—Ca Weather Bot, Sacbee.com, 25 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for stop
Verb
And to be clear, a Grammy win isn’t stopping him from fulfilling his BGV duties.
—Kyle Denis, Billboard, 24 Feb. 2026
Encouragingly, the front office did stop flirting with the cap floor, spending firmly above it, albeit nowhere near the ceiling, over the summer.
—Andrew Knoll, Oc Register, 24 Feb. 2026
Noun
Those were about to be shipped to the next stop, a much larger refinery, which would separate the different metals and turn the pure gold into bars.
—Roxana Popescu, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Feb. 2026
Leave plenty of distance between you and the vehicle in front of you to account for sudden stops or changes in the traffic pattern.
—Ca Weather Bot, Sacbee.com, 25 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for stop
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stop
Noun
-
Including their home win over Chicago before the NBA All-Star break, the 38-19 Celtics have won four straight — all by double digits — and nine of their last 10.—
Zack Cox,
Boston Herald,
25 Feb. 2026
-
Chad Baker-Mazara was hot early for the Trojans, hitting four three-pointers and totaling 14 by the break, but no other USC player had more than four in the first 20 minutes.—
Steve Galluzzo,
Los Angeles Times,
25 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Rediscovery of ancient creatures Back in the 1970s, the team discovered the fossils eroding from a rock formation on the Noonkanbah cattle station, located east of the isolated township of Derby in the Kimberley.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
23 Feb. 2026
-
At the station, Manuelito urges Leaphorn to tell Chee about his decision to leave.—
Jordan Hoffman,
Entertainment Weekly,
23 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
In Waterfield’s view, the single biggest obstacle for genetic genealogy is the cost of lab work and rising upload fees associated with the DNA databases relied upon by investigators.—
Tim Stelloh,
NBC news,
21 Feb. 2026
-
Anything that was anti-Jewish—a story about exclusion, an obstacle that hadn’t come down, a disapproving enumeration of supposedly Jewish traits—was possibly more fascinating.—
Nicholas Lemann,
New Yorker,
21 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
In cases of near-zero visibility due to dense fog, initiate your hazard lights and locate a secure spot, such as a nearby business parking area, to pull over and come to a halt.—
NC Weather Bot,
Charlotte Observer,
27 Feb. 2026
-
Russia called for an immediate halt to the fighting and for a diplomatic resolution to the conflict, Russian diplomat Zamir Kabulov told news agency Ria Novosti.—
Munir Ahmed,
Chicago Tribune,
27 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
But invading the second biggest country in Europe, after Russia itself, would be a potentially catastrophic prospect which would, surely, give a cold strategist like Putin pause for thought.—
Matthew Chance,
CNN Money,
21 Feb. 2026
-
Mother Nature is about to put the recent spring-like warmth across Central Texas on pause this weekend.—
Mary Wasson,
Austin American Statesman,
21 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
The whole family will find merriment in hopping aboard the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway, a four-hour, 26-mile, round-trip journey that begins and ends at the historic depot in Blue Ridge.—
Lydia Mansel,
Travel + Leisure,
19 Feb. 2026
-
The Tanimoto family boarded a train at the Gridley depot July 9, 1942, leaving behind a full peach harvest that went uncollected.—
Jake Goodrick,
Sacbee.com,
19 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
The Florida bills would do much of that work by forcing married and divorced women to navigate expensive bureaucratic hurdles to match their maiden and married names.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
21 Feb. 2026
-
Had there been hurdles to that process before this latest round of negotiations happened?—
Cynthia Littleton,
Variety,
21 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
As my colleagues in public health have stated recently in the Journal of the American Medical Association, nicotine pouches can be an effective smoking cessation tool.—
Timothy Vermillion,
New York Daily News,
3 Feb. 2026
-
Yet despite that, research into what happens during this natural cessation of menstruation and why is limited.—
Jackie Flynn Mogensen,
Scientific American,
27 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Stop.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stop. Accessed 28 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
