Adjacent Words

Hiatus definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

HIA'TUS, n. [L. from hio, to open or gape.]
1. An opening; an aperture; a gap; a chasm.
2. The opening of the mouth in reading or speaking, when a word ends with a vowel,and the following word begins with a vowel.
3. A defect; a chasm in a manuscript,where some part is lost or effaced.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: an interruption in the intensity or amount of something [syn: suspension, respite, reprieve, hiatus, abatement]
2: a missing piece (as a gap in a manuscript)
3: a natural opening or perforation through a bone or a membranous structure [syn: foramen, hiatus]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Latin, from hiare to yawn — more at yawn Date: 1563 1. a. a break in or as if in a material object ; gap <the hiatus between the theory and the practice of the party — J. G. Colton> b. a gap or passage in an anatomical part or organ 2. a. an interruption in time or continuity ; break; especially a period when something (as a program or activity) is suspended or interrupted <after a 5-year hiatus from writing> b. the occurrence of two vowel sounds without pause or intervening consonantal sound

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. (pl. hiatuses) 1 a break or gap, esp. in a series, account, or chain of proof. 2 Prosody & Gram. a break between two vowels coming together but not in the same syllable, as in though oft the ear. Derivatives: hiatal adj. Etymology: L, = gaping f. hiare gape

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Hiatus Hi*a"tus, n.; pl. L. Hiatus, E. Hiatuses. [L., fr. hiare, hiatum, to gape; akin to E. yawn. See Yawn.] 1. An opening; an aperture; a gap; a chasm; esp., a defect in a manuscript, where some part is lost or effaced; a space where something is wanting; a break. 2. (Gram.) The concurrence of two vowels in two successive words or syllables. --Pope.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Hiatus Hi*a"tus, n.; pl. L. Hiatus, E. Hiatuses. [L., fr. hiare, hiatum, to gape; akin to E. yawn. See Yawn.] 1. An opening; an aperture; a gap; a chasm; esp., a defect in a manuscript, where some part is lost or effaced; a space where something is wanting; a break. 2. (Gram.) The concurrence of two vowels in two successive words or syllables. --Pope.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

A hiatus is a pause in which nothing happens, or a gap where something is missing. (FORMAL) Diplomatic efforts to reach a settlement resume today after a two-week hiatus... N-SING: usu with supp, oft N in/of n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Opening, gap, break, interval, chasm, rift, lacuna.

Moby Thesaurus

aperture, arrearage, breach, break, broaching, caesura, cavity, cessation, chasm, check, clearance, clearing, cleft, crack, defalcation, defect, deficiency, deficit, disclosure, discontinuity, distance between, double space, em space, en space, fenestra, fissure, fistula, fontanel, foramen, freeboard, gap, gape, gat, gulf, hair space, half space, hole, hollow, inlet, interim, intermediate space, intermission, interruption, interspace, interstice, interval, jump, lack, lacuna, laying open, leak, leap, leeway, letup, lull, margin, missing link, need, omission, opening, opening up, orifice, outage, outlet, passageway, pause, pore, room, shortage, single space, slot, space, space between, split, stoma, suspension, throwing open, time interval, ullage, uncorking, unstopping, want, wantage, yawn