SUSPENSION • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Suspension

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/səspˈɛnʃən/ Listen

noun

Suspension n.

1.

The act of suspending, or the state of being suspended; pendency; as, suspension from a hook.

2.

Especially, temporary delay, interruption, or cessation; as:

(a)

Of labor, study, pain, etc.

(b)

Of decision, determination, judgment, etc.; as, to ask a suspension of judgment or opinion in view of evidence to be produced.

(c)

Of the payment of what is due; as, the suspension of a mercantile firm or of a bank.

(d)

Of punishment, or sentence of punishment.

(e)

Of a person in respect of the exercise of his office, powers, prerogative, etc.; as, the suspension of a student or of a clergyman.

(f)

Of the action or execution of law, etc.; as, the suspension of the habeas corpus act.

3.

A conditional withholding, interruption, or delay; as, the suspension of a payment on the performance of a condition.

4.

The state of a solid when its particles are mixed with, but undissolved in, a fluid, and are capable of separation by straining; also, any substance in this state.

5.

(Rhet.) A keeping of the hearer in doubt and in attentive expectation of what is to follow, or of what is to be the inference or conclusion from the arguments or observations employed.

6.

(Scots Law) A stay or postponement of execution of a sentence condemnatory by means of letters of suspension granted on application to the lord ordinary.

7.

(Mus.) The prolongation of one or more tones of a chord into the chord which follows, thus producing a momentary discord, suspending the concord which the ear expects. Cf. Retardation.

Pleas in suspension (Law), pleas which temporarily abate or suspend a suit.

Points of suspension (Mech.), the points, as in the axis or beam of a balance, at which the weights act, or from which they are suspended.

Suspension bridge, a bridge supported by chains, ropes, or wires, which usually pass over high piers or columns at each end, and are secured in the ground beyond.

Suspension of arms (Mil.), a short truce or cessation of operations agreed on by the commanders of contending armies, as for burying the dead, making proposal for surrender or for peace, etc.

Suspension scale, a scale in which the platform hangs suspended from the weighing apparatus instead of resting upon it.

Synonyms: Delay; interruption; intermission; stop.

See images of 'Suspension'

Etymology of 'Suspension'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Suspension" Quotes from Famous Books

... sent for. Instead of submitting himself, however, he maintained very sturdily that the visit of the official to his room was an outrage which he ought not be asked to endure. He made quite an oration to the Faculty. Thereupon he was sentenced, more for his contumacy than for the original offence, to suspension from the college for two or three months. The class were very indignant and determined to manifest their indignation in a way that should be understood. They got a chariot with six white horses which drove up to his door in Holworthy at midday. Nearly the whole ...

— Autobiography of Seventy Years, Vol. 1-2 • George Hoar

... fatal concessions by which they were only drawn further into the King's net. Confer and discuss as they might, the King remained the final arbiter, and only one conclusion would be accepted by him. By the suspension of hostilities between the two parties in the Church, those who were opposed to the King gained nothing, and he gained much. While the ministers were silent and inactive, the bishops were as aggressive as ever; they openly avowed their intention ...

— Andrew Melville - Famous Scots Series • William Morison

... simple emblem, that eloquently spoke the general village sorrow. This we found more particularly expressed in detail, as we passed through the little place, by the many minuter insignia of mourning which the individual inhabitants had put on the fronts of their houses and shops—by the suspension of business—and by the respectful manner in which the young and the old, and people of both sexes, stood silently and reverently before their respective dwellings, wrapt in that all-absorbing sorrow ...

— The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, Vol. 20, No. 577 - Volume 20, Number 577, Saturday, November 24, 1832 • Various

... extraordinary phenomenon can only be explained by a sudden suspension of the intellectual and moral faculties and of the powers ...

— Criminal Man - According to the Classification of Cesare Lombroso • Gina Lombroso-Ferrero

... for you, who are a great lady. Though I am a judge, I am but a man; I may be wrong—tell me so. Remember the duties imposed on me by the law, and the rigorous inquiries it demands, when the case before it is the suspension from all his functions of the father of a family in the prime of life. So you will pardon me, Madame la Marquise, for laying all these difficulties before you; it will be easy for you to ...

— The Commission in Lunacy • Honore de Balzac

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