Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - stop

 I. verb  (~ped; ~ping)  Etymology: Middle English ~pen, from Old English -~pian, from Vulgar Latin *stuppare to ~ with tow, from Latin stuppa tow, from Greek styppe  Date: 13th century  transitive verb  1.  a. to close by filling or obstructing  b. to hinder or prevent the passage of  c. to get in the way of ; be wounded or killed by easy to ~ a bullet along a lonely…road — Harvey Fergusson  2.  a. to close up or block off (an opening) ; plug  b. to make impassable ; choke, obstruct  c. to cover over or fill in (a hole or crevice)  3.  a. to cause to give up or change a course of action  b. to keep from carrying out a proposed action ; restrain, prevent ~ped them from leaving  4.  a. to cause to cease ; check, suppress  b. discontinue  5.  a. to deduct or withhold (a sum due)  b. to instruct one's bank to refuse (payment) or refuse payment of (as a check)  6.  a. to arrest the progress or motion of ; cause to halt ~ped the car  b. parry  c. to check by means of a weapon ; bring down, kill  d. to beat in a boxing match by a knockout; broadly defeat  e. baffle, nonplus  7. to change the pitch of (as a violin string) by pressing with the finger or (as a wind instrument) by closing one or more finger holes or by thrusting the hand or a mute into the bell  8. to hold an honor card and enough protecting cards to be able to block (a bridge suit) before an opponent can run many tricks  intransitive verb  1.  a. to cease activity or operation his heart ~ped the rain ~ped  b. to come to an end especially suddenly ; close, finish  2.  a. to cease to move on ; halt  b. pause, hesitate  3.  a. to break one's journey ; stay  b. chiefly British remain  c. to make a brief call ; drop in  4. to become choked ; clog the sink often ~s up  • ~pable adjective Synonyms:  ~, cease, quit, discontinue, desist mean to suspend or cause to suspend activity. ~ applies to action or progress or to what is operating or progressing and may imply suddenness or definiteness ~ped at the red light. cease applies to states, conditions, or existence and may add a suggestion of gradualness and a degree of finality by nightfall the fighting had ceased. quit may stress either finality or abruptness in ~ping or ceasing the engine faltered, sputtered, then quit altogether. discontinue applies to the ~ping of an accustomed activity or practice we have discontinued the manufacture of that item. desist implies forbearance or restraint as a motive for ~ping or ceasing desisted from further efforts to persuade them.  II. noun  Date: 15th century  1.  a. cessation, end  b. a pause or breaking off in speech  2.  a.  (1) a graduated set of organ pipes of similar design and tone quality  (2) a corresponding set of vibrators or reeds of a reed organ  (3) ~ knob — often used figuratively in phrases like pull out all the ~s to suggest holding nothing back  b. a means of regulating the pitch of a musical instrument  3.  a. something that impedes, obstructs, or brings to a halt ; impediment, obstacle  b. the aperture of a camera lens; also a marking of a series (as of f-numbers) on a camera for indicating settings of the diaphragm  c. a drain plug ; ~per  4. a device for arresting or limiting motion  5. the act of ~ping ; the state of being ~ped ; check  6.  a. a halt in a journey ; stay made a brief ~ to refuel  b. a ~ping place a bus ~  7.  a. chiefly British any of several punctuation marks  b. — used in telegrams and cables to indicate a period  c. a pause or break in a verse that marks the end of a grammatical unit  8.  a. an order ~ping payment (as of a check or note) by a bank  b. ~ order  9. a consonant characterized by complete closure of the breath passage in the course of articulation — compare continuant  10. a depression in the face of an animal at the junction of forehead and muzzle  11. a funCTION OF AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE THAT ~S A RECORDING  III. adjective  Date: 1594 serving to ~ ; designed to ~ ~ line ~ signal