call a halt; suspend; stop
Meanings
2 senses · 6 examplesverb
to call for a timeout; to suspend play
Primarily used in sports contexts (e.g., basketball, football). The referee or a team can 'call' it.
Seeing a player injured, the coach immediately raised his hand to call for a timeout from the referee.
At a critical moment in the match, the home team's coach had used up all his timeouts.
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The referee proactively suspended the game due to weather conditions.
verb
to order a halt; to stop officially
formalUsed in formal or official contexts, often for negative or unauthorized activities. Implies an authoritative command.
The government severely ordered a halt to this unauthorized construction project.
The regulatory authorities firmly ordered a stop to the practice of arbitrary fee collection.
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For safety reasons, this controversial experiment was urgently halted.