Meaning & use
halt
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Meanings
verbtransitive or intransitive
To stop moving, or to bring something that is moving or in progress to a stop.
Grammar: With an object it means make stop: halt the traffic; without one it means stop: the train halted.
Patterns
- halt something
- something halts
The referee halted the match because of the thunderstorm.
The soldiers halted at the edge of the river.
Officials halted production after a safety inspection.
nounusually singular
A stop, whether brief or final, in movement or activity.
Grammar: Often appears in fixed phrases such as come to a halt or bring something to a halt.
Patterns
- come to a halt
- bring something to a halt
- call a halt to something
The bus came to a sudden halt.
A strike brought the whole railway to a halt.
The mayor called a halt to the construction.
verbtransitiveformal
To stop something that is happening before it can continue or get worse, usually by decision or authority.
Grammar: Takes an object: halt the spread of a disease.
Patterns
- halt the spread of something
- halt a decline
New measures are meant to halt the spread of the virus.
The company hopes the new product will halt its falling sales.
Word forms
| third person singular | halts |
|---|---|
| past tense | halted |
| past participle | halted |
| -ing form | halting |
| plural | halts |
Common combinations
- come to a halt
- The conversation came to a halt when the manager walked in.
- grind to a halt
- Traffic ground to a halt on the bridge.
- halt production
- The factory had to halt production for two days.
- call a halt to
- The board called a halt to the project.
- halt the spread
- Washing hands helps halt the spread of germs.
- screeching halt
- The car came to a screeching halt.
Synonyms and how they differ
- stop
- Stop is the everyday word and works in any setting, while halt sounds more formal or sudden, as if ordered.
- cease
- Cease is formal and suits activities or states that end, but it is rarely used for vehicles or people physically moving.
- suspend
- Suspend implies stopping temporarily with the plan to resume, whereas halt can be temporary or final.
- arrest
- Arrest in this sense is formal and used for processes such as decline, while halt is wider and also fits movement.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: halt or hold?
halt vs hold
Hold means keep something in place or keep going, while halt means to stop. A halted meeting has ended its flow, but a held meeting is simply taking place.
Practice
The heavy snow brought the traffic to a ___.
Choose one answer.
The fixed phrase is come or bring to a halt. The other options are not used in this idiom, even though hold-up refers to a delay.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “halt”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.