standstill

CEFRB2

/ˈstændˌstɪl/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A complete stop in movement or activity.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    Complete immobility; a halt.

Examples

  • A new car came to a standstill in front of the bank.

  • All the traffic was brought to a standstill by the accident.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
3
Parts of speech
1
Citations
3
Synonyms
5

Also pronounced

  • [ˈstɛən(d)ˌstɪɫ]

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meaning

  1. A complete immobility; a halt.

More examples

In context

  • The wreck brought traffic to a standstill for hours.

  • Despite all these precautions, however, severe storms sometimes caused drifts which brought traffic completely to a standstill.

  • [...] but in the damp conditions prevailing the driver sensibly was unwilling to attempt the climb up through Combe Down tunnel without help, for fear of slipping to a standstill in the unventilated bore, [...].

Synonyms

Antonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The factory's entire production line came to a complete blank after the major power outage.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From stand + still, a deverbal from stand still. Compare Dutch stilstand (“a standstill”), German Stillstand (“a standstill”), Danish stilstand (“a standstill”).