Adjacent Words

Halt definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

HALT, v.i.
1. To stop in walking; to hold. In military affairs, the true sense is retained, to stop in a march. The army halted at noon.
2. To limp; that is, to stop with lameness.
3. To hesitate; to stand in doubt whether to proceed, or what to do.
How long halt ye between two opinions? 1 Kings 18.
4. To fail; to falter; as a halting sonnet.
HALT, v.t. To stop; to cause to cease marching; a military term. The general halted his troops for refreshment.
HALT, a. Lame; that is, holding or stopping in walking.
Bring hither the poor, the maimed,the halt, and the blind. Luke 14.
HALT, n. A stopping; a stop in marching.
The troops made a halt at the bridge.
1. The act of limping.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: disabled in the feet or legs; "a crippled soldier"; "a game leg" [syn: crippled, halt, halting, lame, gimpy, game] n
1: the state of inactivity following an interruption; "the negotiations were in arrest"; "held them in check"; "during the halt he got some lunch"; "the momentary stay enabled him to escape the blow"; "he spent the entire stop in his seat" [syn: arrest, check, halt, hitch, stay, stop, stoppage]
2: the event of something ending; "it came to a stop at the bottom of the hill" [syn: stop, halt]
3: an interruption or temporary suspension of progress or movement; "a halt in the arms race"; "a nuclear freeze" [syn: freeze, halt] v
1: cause to stop; "Halt the engines"; "Arrest the progress"; "halt the presses" [syn: halt, hold, arrest]
2: come to a halt, stop moving; "the car stopped"; "She stopped in front of a store window" [syn: stop, halt] [ant: get going, go, start]
3: stop from happening or developing; "Block his election"; "Halt the process" [syn: stop, halt, block, kibosh]
4: stop the flow of a liquid; "staunch the blood flow"; "stem the tide" [syn: stem, stanch, staunch, halt]

Merriam Webster's

I. adjective Etymology: Middle English, from Old English healt; akin to Old High German halz lame Date: before 12th century lame II. intransitive verb Date: before 12th century 1. to walk or proceed lamely ; limp 2. to stand in perplexity or doubt between alternate courses ; waver 3. to display weakness or imperfection ; falter III. noun Etymology: German, from Middle High German, from halt, imperative of halten to hold, from Old High German haltan — more at hold Date: circa 1598 stop IV. verb Date: 1656 intransitive verb 1. to cease marching or journeying 2. discontinue, terminate <the project halted for lack of funds> transitive verb 1. to bring to a stop <the strike halted subways and buses> 2. to cause the discontinuance of ; end <halt hostilities>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. n. & v. --n. 1 a stop (usu. temporary); an interruption of progress (come to a halt). 2 a temporary stoppage on a march or journey. 3 Brit. a minor stopping-place on a local railway line, usu. without permanent buildings. --v.intr. & tr. stop; come or bring to a halt. Phrases and idioms: call a halt (to) decide to stop. Etymology: orig. in phr. make halt f. G Halt machen f. halten hold, stop 2. v. & adj. --v.intr. 1 (esp. as halting adj.) lack smooth progress. 2 hesitate (halt between two opinions). 3 walk hesitatingly. 4 archaic be lame. --adj. archaic lame or crippled. Derivatives: haltingly adv. Etymology: OE halt, healt, healtian f. Gmc

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Halt Halt, 3d pers. sing. pres. of Hold, contraction for holdeth. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Halt Halt, n. [Formerly alt, It. alto, G. halt, fr. halten to hold. See Hold.] A stop in marching or walking, or in any action; arrest of progress. Without any halt they marched. --Clarendon. [Lovers] soon in passion's war contest, Yet in their march soon make a halt. --Davenant.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Halt Halt, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Halted; p. pr. & vb. n. Halting.] 1. To hold one's self from proceeding; to hold up; to cease progress; to stop for a longer or shorter period; to come to a stop; to stand still. 2. To stand in doubt whether to proceed, or what to do; to hesitate; to be uncertain. How long halt ye between two opinions? --1 Kings xviii. 21

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Halt Halt, v. t. (Mil.) To cause to cease marching; to stop; as, the general halted his troops for refreshment.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Halt Halt, a. [AS. healt; akin to OS., Dan., & Sw. halt, Icel. haltr, halltr, Goth. halts, OHG. halz.] Halting or stopping in walking; lame. Bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. --Luke xiv. 21.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Halt Halt, n. The act of limping; lameness.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Halt Halt, v. i. [OE. halten, AS. healtian. See Halt, a.] 1. To walk lamely; to limp. 2. To have an irregular rhythm; to be defective. The blank verse shall halt for it. --Shak.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(halts, halting, halted) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. When a person or a vehicle halts or when something halts them, they stop moving in the direction they were going and stand still. They halted at a short distance from the house... She held her hand out flat, to halt him. VERB: V, V n 2. When something such as growth, development, or activity halts or when you halt it, it stops completely. Striking workers halted production at the auto plant yesterday... The flow of assistance to Vietnam's fragile economy from its ideological allies has virtually halted. VERB: V n, V 3. 'Halt!' is a military order to stop walking or marching and stand still. The colonel ordered 'Halt!' VERB: only imper, V 4. If someone calls a halt to something such as an activity, they decide not to continue with it or to end it immediately. The Russian government had called a halt to the construction of a new project in the Rostov region. PHRASE: V inflects, oft PHR to n 5. If someone or something comes to a halt, they stop moving. The elevator creaked to a halt at the ground floor. PHRASE: PHR after v 6. If something such as growth, development, or activity comes or grinds to a halt or is brought to a halt, it stops completely. Her political career came to a halt in December 1988... PHRASE: PHR after v

Easton's Bible Dictionary

lame on the feet (Gen. 32:31; Ps. 38:17). To "halt between two opinions" (1 Kings 18:21) is supposed by some to be an expression used in "allusion to birds, which hop from spray to spray, forwards and backwards." The LXX. render the expression "How long go ye lame on both knees?" The Hebrew verb rendered "halt" is used of the irregular dance ("leaped upon") around the altar (ver. 26). It indicates a lame, uncertain gait, going now in one direction, now in another, in the frenzy of wild leaping.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

holt (tsala`, "to limp"; cholos, "lame," "crippled"): the American Standard Revised Version in Ge 32:31 prefers "limped"; in Mic 4:6,7; Ze 3:19, "is (or was) lame"; in Lu 14:21, the American Standard Revised Version and the English Revised Version have "lame." In 1Ki 18:21 a different word (pacach) is used in English Versions of the Bible of moral indecision: "How long halt ye between two opinions?" the American Standard Revised Version renders, "How long go ye limping between the two sides?"

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. n. 1. Stop, hold, stand (still), stop short, pull up, come to a stop. 2. Limp, hobble, walk lamely. II. a. Lame, crippled. III. n. 1. Stop, stand, standstill. 2. Limp, limping gait.

Moby Thesaurus

abandon, abort, afterthought, amble, arrest, arrestation, bad, barge, belay, bell, bind, blind alley, block, blockage, bowl along, box, brake, break, breath, breather, breathing place, breathing space, breathing spell, breathing time, bring to, bring up, bring up short, bundle, bureaucratic delay, calm, calm down, cancel, castrated, cease, cease fire, cessation, check, checkmate, cigarette break, close, clump, cocktail hour, coffee break, come up short, conclude, corner, cower, crippled, cul-de-sac, curb, cut it out, cut short, cutoff, dally, dam, dawdle, dead end, dead set, dead stand, dead stop, dead-end street, deadlock, debarment, delay, delayage, delayed reaction, desist, detention, determent, deterrence, die down, dillydally, disabled, discontinue, discouragement, dodder, double take, downtime, drag, dragging, draw rein, draw up, drop it, dwindle, dying down, ebb, ebbing, emasculated, end, endgame, ending, enforced respite, estoppel, extremity, falter, fetch up, final whistle, flag, flounce, foot, footslog, forbiddance, foreclosure, forestalling, freeze, full stop, game, give, give over, goof off, grinding halt, gun, halting, hamstrung, handicapped, hang fire, hang-up, happy hour, haul up, have done with, haw, hem, hem and haw, hesitate, hindrance, hippety-hop, hitch, hobble, hobbling, hold, holdup, hole, hop, hum, hum and haw, impasse, incapacitated, interim, interlude, intermission, jam, jog, jolt, jump, knock it off, lag, lagging, lame, lay off, leave off, letup, limp, limping, linger, lock, lockout, logjam, loiter, lollygag, lull, lumber, lunge, lurch, maimed, mammer, mince, molder, moratorium, obstruction, obviation, pace, pacify, paddle, paperasserie, pause, peg, piaffe, piaffer, plod, prance, preclusion, prevention, prohibition, pull up, put paid to, quiesce, quiet, quieten, quit, quiver, rack, recess, red tape, red-tapeism, red-tapery, refrain, relinquish, renounce, reprieve, respite, rest, retardance, retardation, roll, sashay, saunter, scrub, scuff, scuffle, scuttle, shake, shamble, shilly-shally, shuffle, sidle, single-foot, sit-down strike, skip, slink, slither, slog, slouch, slow down, slow-up, slowdown, slowness, soothe, spavined, spell, stagger, stalemate, stalk, stall, stammer, stamp, stand, standoff, standstill, stay, stay of execution, stem, stem the tide, stick, stillstand, stomp, stop, stop cold, stop dead, stop short, stoppage, stopping, straddle, straggle, stride, strike, stroll, strut, stumble, stump, stutter, stymie, subside, subsidence, surcease, suspension, swagger, swing, tarry, tea break, teeter, terminate, termination, tie-up, time lag, time out, tittup, toddle, totter, trail, traipse, tranquilize, tremble, trip, trudge, waddle, wait, walkout, wamble, wane, waning, waste time, wiggle, wobble, work stoppage, wrap up