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Temporary inaction or waiting; hesitation; suspence; doubt. I stand in pause where I shall first begin. Shak.

One who pauses. Shak.

An intermission. [R.]

The period of natural cessation of menstruation. See Change of life, under Change.

To wait; to pause; to delay. [Obs.] Chaucer.

tion at the end of a movement to show that the next is to follow immediately, without any pause.

An interruption; a pause; as, a break in friendship; a break in the conversation.

Time to breathe; respite; pause. Give me some breath, some little pause. Shak.

Stop; pause; delay. You shake the head at so long a breathing. Shak.

A cadenza, or closing embellishment; a pause before the end of a strain, which the performer may fill with a flight of fancy. Imperfect cadence. (Mus.) See under Imperfect.

rse, occurring in the middle of a foot and commonly near the middle of the verse; a sense pause in the middle of a foot. Also, a long syllable on which the cæsural accent rests, or which is used as a foot.

Of or pertaining to a cæsura. Cæsural pause, a pause made at a cæsura.

Without pause or end; incessant.

Light, familiar talk; conversation; gossip. Snuff, or fan, supply each pause of chat, With singing, laughing, ogling, and all that. Pope.

To make a stop; to pause; -- with at. The mind, once jaded by an attempt above its power, either is disabled for the future, or else checks at any vigorous undertaking ever after. Locke.

A character [] called the pause or hold.

transition in a sentence, or an abrupt change in its construction, a long or significant pause, or an unexpected or epigrammatic turn of sentiment. Dashes are also sometimes used instead of marks or parenthesis. John Wilson.

To delay; to pause; to suspend proceedings or judgment in view of a doubt or difficulty; to hesitate; to put off the determination or conclusion of an affair. Upon this rub, the English embassadors thought fit to demur. Hayward.

A stop or pause by a party to an action, for the judgment of the court on the question, whether, assuming the truth of the matter alleged by the opposite party, it is sufficient in law to sustain the action or defense, and hence whether the party resting is bound to answer or proceed further. Demurrer to evidence, an e…

To refrain from proceeding; to pause; to delay. Shall I go against Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I forbear 1 Kinds xxii. 6.