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time-outs

noun

plural of time-out
as in winters
a period of often involuntary inactivity or idleness we need to take a time-out from our relationship to think things over

Synonyms & Similar Words

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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 time-outs Both of these non-sung time-outs are astonishingly good. — Chris Willman, Variety, 27 May 2026 Run opposing guards into the ground, step on the gas harder, and force your opponents into spending catch-your-breath time-outs. — Brian Robin, Oc Register, 28 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for time-outs
  1. winters
  2. breaks
  3. lulls
  4. pauses
  5. layoffs
  6. downtimes
  7. interruptions
Noun
  • Their first holiday season as a married couple was marked by health challenges and subsequent winters were spent miles apart.
    — Corey Schmidt, Sacbee.com, 15 Sep. 2026
  • The prevailing theory is that Icelandic winters are notoriously variable, which wreaks havoc on the dormant phase of Arctic mosquitoes’ life cycle, killing eggs in unpredictable freezes and thaws.
    — Mark Sappenfield, Christian Science Monitor, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of winters
Noun
  • By the turn of the century, such devices were ubiquitous, joining airbags and antilock breaks as standard safety features.
    — Sonja Sharp, Los Angeles Times, 15 Sep. 2026
  • Sometimes upsets are fluky, with some pivotal breaks going the underdogs' way.
    — Ian Miller OutKick, FOXNews.com, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of breaks
Noun
  • Dull spells and lulls will crop up, building like waves, peaking, crashing, then dissipating.
    — Carlos Valladares, ARTnews.com, 11 Sep. 2026
  • Share these transparently to maintain trust and momentum through the inevitable lulls.
    — Stewart McLaurin, Forbes.com, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of lulls
Noun
  • Some deepfakes still have telltale flaws such as unnatural facial movements, lip-sync glitches, robotic speech or awkward pauses — but the technology is rapidly improving, a spokesperson for the organization said.
    — Emily Elconin for CNN, CNN Money, 15 Sep. 2026
  • If pauses were put in place, wouldn’t that cost your business quite a lot of money, and Anthropic’s business quite a lot of money, ahead of these critical moments in public-market debuts?
    — Fortune Editors, Fortune, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of pauses
Noun
  • The number of people applying for unemployment benefits dropped sharply last week, another sign that layoffs remain rare and most Americans enjoy job security.
    — Paul Wiseman, Los Angeles Times, 17 Sep. 2026
  • Channel 4 top brass came in for criticism during layoffs in 2024, when it was revealed its top three earners would accept bonuses.
    — Max Goldbart, Deadline, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of layoffs
Noun
  • These trends often materialize in batch changeovers, supplier changes, line downtimes and traceability challenges.
    — Ihor Yurchenko, Forbes.com, 10 Aug. 2026
  • The average response time for phone calls dropped to 6 minutes from 30 minutes in the prior fiscal year; field office wait times decreased to 23 minutes; and removal of online service downtimes has benefited an additional 125,000 users in a single week, according to the agency's findings.
    — Suzanne Blake, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Aug. 2025
Definition of downtimes
Noun
  • Mercury opposes hazy Neptune, making expectations unclear and interruptions harder to manage.
    — Tarot.com, Sun Sentinel, 12 Sep. 2026
  • Additionally, customers who experience more than six electric service interruptions of at least five minutes in 12 months will receive an outage credit.
    — Arpan Lobo, Freep.com, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of interruptions

Browse Nearby Words

time-out
time-outs
timepiece
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Cite this Entry

“Time-outs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/time-outs. Accessed 19 Sep. 2026.

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