SUSPEND • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Suspend

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/səspˈɛnd/ Listen

verb

Suspend v. t. (past & past part. suspended; pres. part. suspending)

1.

To attach to something above; to hang; as, to suspend a ball by a thread; to suspend a needle by a loadstone.

2.

To make to depend; as, God hath suspended the promise of eternal life on the condition of obedience and holiness of life. (Archaic)

3.

To cause to cease for a time; to hinder from proceeding; to interrupt; to delay; to stay. "Suspend your indignation against my brother." "The guard nor fights nor fies; their fate so near At once suspends their courage and their fear."

4.

To hold in an undetermined or undecided state; as, to suspend one's judgment or opinion.

5.

To debar, or cause to withdraw temporarily, from any privilege, from the execution of an office, from the enjoyment of income, etc.; as, to suspend a student from college; to suspend a member of a club. "Good men should not be suspended from the exercise of their ministry and deprived of their livelihood for ceremonies which are on all hands acknowledged indifferent."

6.

To cause to cease for a time from operation or effect; as, to suspend the habeas corpus act; to suspend the rules of a legislative body.

7.

(Chem.) To support in a liquid, as an insoluble powder, by stirring, to facilitate chemical action.

To suspend payment (Com.), to cease paying debts or obligations; to fail; said of a merchant, a bank, etc.

Synonyms: To hang; interrupt; delay; intermit; stay; hinder; debar.

Suspend v. i. To cease from operation or activity; esp., to stop payment, or be unable to meet obligations or engagements (said of a commercial firm or a bank).

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Etymology of 'Suspend'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Suspend" Quotes from Famous Books

... is the possibility that it may have been committed with the sanction of his own country, officially represented by the British commander-in-chief. But then that consideration leads an Englishman to suspend with a stoic [Greek: epoche], and exceedingly to doubt whether the fact could have been as it was originally reported. So said we, when first we heard it; and now, when the zeal of malice has ceased to distort things, let us coolly state the circumstances. ...

— Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine -- Vol. 56, No. 346, August, 1844 • Various

... of a patched-up reconciliation with the king, Becket proceeded to excommunicate or suspend some of the great English prelates and, as Henry believed, was conspiring to rob his son of the crown. In a fit of anger, Henry exclaimed among his followers, "Is there no one to avenge me of this miserable clerk?" Unfortunately certain knights took the rash expression literally, ...

— An Introduction to the History of Western Europe • James Harvey Robinson

... down business for other firms. As it stands, he has in this case established a feeling of good will for the house he represents, and has placed it in such a light that if the rival concern should be afflicted with a strike or a fire or any of a hundred or two disasters which might lessen or suspend its output, the customer will probably turn to the salesman's house. And if Hicks and Hicks should sell out or go into bankruptcy the salesman will have won for his own house a steady customer of ...

— The Book of Business Etiquette • Nella Henney

... the growth of five generations, diffused through all ranks and parties, and intertwined not less closely with the principles of the Tory than with the principles of the Whig. It was indeed in the power of the King, by the exercise of his prerogative of mercy, to suspend the operation of the penal laws. It might hereafter be in his power, by discreet management, to obtain from the Parliament a repeal of the acts which imposed civil disabilities on those who professed his religion. But, if ...

— The History of England from the Accession of James II. - Volume 2 (of 5) • Thomas Babington Macaulay

... on Sabbath-eve. The first was to set free the laborers in the fields from their work; those that worked near the city waited for those that worked at a distance and all entered the place together. The second blast was to warn the citizens to suspend their employments and shut up their shops. At the third blast the women were to have ready the various dishes they had prepared for the Sabbath and to light the lamps in honor of the day. Then three more blasts were blown in succession, and the ...

— Hebraic Literature; Translations from the Talmud, Midrashim and - Kabbala • Various

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