halted; halting; halts
1
: to cease marching or journeying
2
: discontinue, terminate
the project halted for lack of funds
1
: to bring to a stop
the strike halted subways and buses
2
: to cause the discontinuance of : end
halt hostilities
halted; halting; halts
archaic
: having a manner of walking that is impaired by a limp
… there is a place for everyone … old and young, hale and halt …—
Sir Winston Churchill
Sir Winston ChurchillSynonyms
Examples of halt in a Sentence
Noun
They put a halt to the rumors.
The car skidded to a halt.
Recent Examples on the WebReuters, CNN, 7 Apr. 2024
Forty-three million Americans would have qualified for the program, and the Education Department had already approved applications for 16 million borrowers before halting due to legal challenges.
—Maryalice Parks, ABC News, 6 Apr. 2024
Officials were able to halt traffic across the bridge after the ship's crew sent out an emergency alert in response to a power issue.
—USA TODAY, 5 Apr. 2024
City officials have been working for months to try to halt the landslide complex’s movement — fighting an uphill battle against water infiltration, which causes the shifting ground.
—Grace Toohey, Los Angeles Times, 4 Apr. 2024
The Kansas City Council later agreed to halt all approvals of landfill proposals until June 2024 after Mayor Quinton Lucas met with state senators about the issue.
—Kacen Bayless, Kansas City Star, 4 Apr. 2024
On Wednesday, more than 600 legal experts in the U.K. sent a 17-page letter to Sunak, urging him to halt British arms exports to Israel.
—Lauren Frayer, NPR, 4 Apr. 2024
Experts said that some materials were better than others, and questioned whether any fenders constructed of timber would do much to halt a massive container ship.
—Cnn.com Wire Service, The Mercury News, 3 Apr. 2024
Those new voting restrictions would most likely have been halted under the VRA before the Shelby decision.
—John Blake, CNN, 26 Mar. 2024
Audrey Richardson and Aurora Sousanis, USA TODAY, 6 Apr. 2024
As our world’s ground to a halt, the masses were jolted into a disorienting reality, giving many a rare opportunity to engage with our thoughts and feel our feelings in ways the chaotic rhythm of our pre-pandemic lives seldom allowed.
—Ebony Flake, Essence, 4 Apr. 2024
Then on April 1, they were killed by Israeli airstrikes, along with five other colleagues, bringing the work of the World Central Kitchen in Gaza to a halt.
—Peter Baker, New York Times, 4 Apr. 2024
All youth sports came to a halt, and when the teams returned to practice after lockdown, Posternack recalls having to occupy her own little square so as not to get too close to the other kids, with little actual soccer being played.
—Tod Leonard, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Apr. 2024
Revenue crashed during the pandemic, when travel and car-pooling ground to a halt.
—Mark Bergen, Fortune Europe, 3 Apr. 2024
This temporary cargo halt could become one of the greatest blows to Baltimore’s maritime prosperity since the city emerged as a commercial gateway with the tobacco trade in the 1600s.
—David J. Lynch, Washington Post, 31 Mar. 2024
Investigating further, social workers realized that Noah had gained only a few ounces from February 2015 to October 2016 and remained at around 17 pounds, a dramatic halt to his growth.
—Matt Hamilton, Los Angeles Times, 29 Mar. 2024
On Sunday, minimal rain could linger in Sacramento before completely coming to a halt later in the afternoon, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Kate Forrest.
—Brianna Taylor, Sacramento Bee, 29 Mar. 2024
Chloe Atkins, NBC News, 8 Apr. 2023
In 2019, the F.D.A. tried unsuccessfully to get Aid Access to halt overseas shipping.
—Pam Belluck, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2023
The developer of the transmission line, Central Maine Power, is challenging an order from the state to halt construction after voters in November 2021 approved a ballot referendum that saddled the company with additional requirements and conditions.
—Sabrina Shankman, BostonGlobe.com, 7 Apr. 2023
Three Alaska tribes are suing the federal government to halt the Donlin Gold project.
—Alex Demarban, Anchorage Daily News, 6 Apr. 2023
But he was suspended by MLB, then fired by the Astros before the 2020 season for not doing more to halt the franchise's trash-can-banging cheating system during the 2017 season.
—Jeff Seidel, Detroit Free Press, 3 Apr. 2023
The bill would require the Department of the Interior to conduct additional lease sales for drilling on federal lands, prohibit the president from banning fracking, and reverse Biden’s decision to halt the Keystone XL pipeline.
—Kate Aronoff, The New Republic, 29 Mar. 2023
And without intervention to halt global warming, such cases are likely to continue increasing and spreading, according to a paper published Thursday in the journal Scientific Reports.
—Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 Mar. 2023
Beverley returns Sunday to Los Angeles with Chicago, a chance for the Bulls to halt the positive momentum the Lakers have built with a three-game winning streak when the teams play a pair of games on each of their home courts.
—Dan Woike, Los Angeles Times, 26 Mar. 2023
Megan Specia, New York Times, 7 Sep. 2022
This is when the fairytale comes crashing to a halt smack-dab in the middle of the Footprint Center.
—Jeremy Cluff, The Arizona Republic, 6 Dec. 2021
Minor posted its biggest quarterly loss in the three months ended June and has cut thousands of jobs to stay afloat after the pandemic ground to a halt global travel and tourism.
—Natnicha Chuwiruch, Bloomberg.com, 9 Oct. 2020
In addition to full-time jobs for recent graduates, many spring and summer internships came to a halt mid-program or were canceled before the summer began due to the pandemic.
—Kaitlin Edquist, chicagotribune.com, 4 Aug. 2020
In October, the Washington Department of Ecology ordered the company to keep its site clean and halt discharge of wastewater to storm drains.
—Scott Morris, ProPublica, 30 June 2010
He is expected to visit Tokyo Thursday and his office has lodge a formal complaint and request that US forces halt flight operations until the cause of Tuesday's accident is determined.
—Joshua Berlinger, CNN, 13 Dec. 2017
Verb
Fico’s coalition, which includes a party led by Pellegrini, halted Slovakia’s official arms shipments to Ukraine.
—Reuters, CNN, 7 Apr. 2024
Forty-three million Americans would have qualified for the program, and the Education Department had already approved applications for 16 million borrowers before halting due to legal challenges.
—Maryalice Parks, ABC News, 6 Apr. 2024
Officials were able to halt traffic across the bridge after the ship's crew sent out an emergency alert in response to a power issue.
—USA TODAY, 5 Apr. 2024
City officials have been working for months to try to halt the landslide complex’s movement — fighting an uphill battle against water infiltration, which causes the shifting ground.
—Grace Toohey, Los Angeles Times, 4 Apr. 2024
The Kansas City Council later agreed to halt all approvals of landfill proposals until June 2024 after Mayor Quinton Lucas met with state senators about the issue.
—Kacen Bayless, Kansas City Star, 4 Apr. 2024
On Wednesday, more than 600 legal experts in the U.K. sent a 17-page letter to Sunak, urging him to halt British arms exports to Israel.
—Lauren Frayer, NPR, 4 Apr. 2024
Experts said that some materials were better than others, and questioned whether any fenders constructed of timber would do much to halt a massive container ship.
—Cnn.com Wire Service, The Mercury News, 3 Apr. 2024
Those new voting restrictions would most likely have been halted under the VRA before the Shelby decision.
—John Blake, CNN, 26 Mar. 2024
Noun
At red, Silverman’s eating disorder brings her life to a halt.
—Audrey Richardson and Aurora Sousanis, USA TODAY, 6 Apr. 2024
As our world’s ground to a halt, the masses were jolted into a disorienting reality, giving many a rare opportunity to engage with our thoughts and feel our feelings in ways the chaotic rhythm of our pre-pandemic lives seldom allowed.
—Ebony Flake, Essence, 4 Apr. 2024
Then on April 1, they were killed by Israeli airstrikes, along with five other colleagues, bringing the work of the World Central Kitchen in Gaza to a halt.
—Peter Baker, New York Times, 4 Apr. 2024
All youth sports came to a halt, and when the teams returned to practice after lockdown, Posternack recalls having to occupy her own little square so as not to get too close to the other kids, with little actual soccer being played.
—Tod Leonard, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Apr. 2024
Revenue crashed during the pandemic, when travel and car-pooling ground to a halt.
—Mark Bergen, Fortune Europe, 3 Apr. 2024
This temporary cargo halt could become one of the greatest blows to Baltimore’s maritime prosperity since the city emerged as a commercial gateway with the tobacco trade in the 1600s.
—David J. Lynch, Washington Post, 31 Mar. 2024
Investigating further, social workers realized that Noah had gained only a few ounces from February 2015 to October 2016 and remained at around 17 pounds, a dramatic halt to his growth.
—Matt Hamilton, Los Angeles Times, 29 Mar. 2024
On Sunday, minimal rain could linger in Sacramento before completely coming to a halt later in the afternoon, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Kate Forrest.
—Brianna Taylor, Sacramento Bee, 29 Mar. 2024
Verb
The plaintiffs sought an injunction — which the judge granted, in part — to halt the use of mifepristone nationwide while the case plays out.
—Chloe Atkins, NBC News, 8 Apr. 2023
In 2019, the F.D.A. tried unsuccessfully to get Aid Access to halt overseas shipping.
—Pam Belluck, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2023
The developer of the transmission line, Central Maine Power, is challenging an order from the state to halt construction after voters in November 2021 approved a ballot referendum that saddled the company with additional requirements and conditions.
—Sabrina Shankman, BostonGlobe.com, 7 Apr. 2023
Three Alaska tribes are suing the federal government to halt the Donlin Gold project.
—Alex Demarban, Anchorage Daily News, 6 Apr. 2023
But he was suspended by MLB, then fired by the Astros before the 2020 season for not doing more to halt the franchise's trash-can-banging cheating system during the 2017 season.
—Jeff Seidel, Detroit Free Press, 3 Apr. 2023
The bill would require the Department of the Interior to conduct additional lease sales for drilling on federal lands, prohibit the president from banning fracking, and reverse Biden’s decision to halt the Keystone XL pipeline.
—Kate Aronoff, The New Republic, 29 Mar. 2023
And without intervention to halt global warming, such cases are likely to continue increasing and spreading, according to a paper published Thursday in the journal Scientific Reports.
—Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 Mar. 2023
Beverley returns Sunday to Los Angeles with Chicago, a chance for the Bulls to halt the positive momentum the Lakers have built with a three-game winning streak when the teams play a pair of games on each of their home courts.
—Dan Woike, Los Angeles Times, 26 Mar. 2023
Adjective
The coronavirus crisis dealt another serious blow to Blackpool, leaving businesses struggling as tourism ground to a halt during nationwide lockdowns.
—Megan Specia, New York Times, 7 Sep. 2022
This is when the fairytale comes crashing to a halt smack-dab in the middle of the Footprint Center.
—Jeremy Cluff, The Arizona Republic, 6 Dec. 2021
Minor posted its biggest quarterly loss in the three months ended June and has cut thousands of jobs to stay afloat after the pandemic ground to a halt global travel and tourism.
—Natnicha Chuwiruch, Bloomberg.com, 9 Oct. 2020
In addition to full-time jobs for recent graduates, many spring and summer internships came to a halt mid-program or were canceled before the summer began due to the pandemic.
—Kaitlin Edquist, chicagotribune.com, 4 Aug. 2020
In October, the Washington Department of Ecology ordered the company to keep its site clean and halt discharge of wastewater to storm drains.
—Scott Morris, ProPublica, 30 June 2010
He is expected to visit Tokyo Thursday and his office has lodge a formal complaint and request that US forces halt flight operations until the cause of Tuesday's accident is determined.
—Joshua Berlinger, CNN, 13 Dec. 2017
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'halt.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near halt
Cite this Entry
“Halt.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/halt. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
halt
1 of 4 adjectivehalt
2 of 4 verb2
: to move unsteadily
halt
3 of 4 noun
: the ending of movement, progress, or action
call a halt
halt
4 of 4 verb1
: to stop marching or journeying
2
: to bring to a stop : end
Etymology
Adjective
Old English healt "lame"
Noun
from German halt "stop," derived from earlier halten "to hold"
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