pause 1 W3 / pɔz $ pɒz / 动词

1 [不及物动词] to stop speaking or doing something for a short time before starting again

pause for

She paused for a moment.

He paused for breath , then continued up the hill.

‘No,’ he replied, without pausing for thought .

pause to do something

Joe paused to consider his answer.

2 [不及物和及物动词] to push a button on a tape player, CD player, computer etc in order to make a tape, CD etc stop playing for a short time

COLLOCATIONS

副词

briefly At the doorway she paused briefly.

momentarily (= for a very short time ) He paused momentarily, then knocked twice more.

dramatically ‘They have offered us a lot of money.’ She paused dramatically.

短语

pause (for) a moment He paused for a moment, seemingly overcome by emotion.

pause for breath She had to pause for breath after every two or three steps.

pause for thought ‘Of course,’ she replied, without pausing for thought.

pause for effect (= in order to make people eager to hear what you are going to say ) ‘Now I know what to do,’ Brown said, pausing for effect.

pause only to do something He paused only to make a few notes, and left.

THESAURUS

pause to stop speaking or stop doing something for a very short time before starting again. Pause is used especially in written descriptions. In everyday spoken English, people usually just say stop : She paused at the bottom of the stairs and looked up at the clock. | He paused, waiting for Larry to say something.

hesitate to stop for a moment and wait before doing something, because you feel unsure or nervous about it : She hesitated for a moment before replying.

have/take a break to stop working for a short time in order to rest, eat etc : We’re all getting tired. Let’s take a break for ten minutes.

adjourn formal if a meeting or court adjourns or is adjourned, it stops for a short time : If there are no more questions, the committee will adjourn until tomorrow morning. | The trial was adjourned because one of the defendants was ill.

take five especially American English informal to stop for a short time in order to rest : Let’s take five and get some coffee.

break off to suddenly stop speaking, especially because you see, hear, or think of something : He broke off his conversation when he saw Mary running towards him. | She broke off and looked embarrassed, then said, ‘I’ll explain later.’