Webster
✕

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Suspend

Sus·pend′ (·pĕnd′), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Suspended; p. pr. & vb. n. Suspending.] [F. suspendre, or OF. souspendre (where the prefix is L. subtus below, from sub under), L. suspendere, suspensum; pref. sus- (see Sub-) + pendere to hang. See Pedant, and cf. Suspense, n.] 1. To attach to something above; to hang; as, to suspend a ball by a thread; to suspend a needle by a loadstone.

2. To make to depend; as, God hath suspended the promise of eternal life on the condition of obedience and holiness of life. [Archaic] Tillotson.

3. To cause to cease for a time; to hinder from proceeding; to interrupt; to delay; to stay.

Suspend your indignation against my brother. Shak.

The guard nor fights nor fies; their fate so near At once suspends their courage and their fear. Denham.

4. To hold in an undetermined or undecided state; as, to suspend one's judgment or opinion. Locke.

5. To debar, or cause to withdraw temporarily, from any privilege, from the execution of an office, from the enjoyment of income, etc.; as, to suspend a student from college; to suspend a member of a club.

Good men should not be suspended from the exercise of their ministry and deprived of their livelihood for ceremonies which are on all hands acknowledged indifferent. Bp. Sanderson.

6. To cause to cease for a time from operation or effect; as, to suspend the habeas corpus act; to suspend the rules of a legislative body.

7. (Chem.) To support in a liquid, as an insoluble powder, by stirring, to facilitate chemical action.

To suspend payment (Com.), to cease paying debts or obligations; to fail; — said of a merchant, a bank, etc.

Syn. — To hang; interrupt; delay; intermit; stay; hinder; debar.

Sus·pend′ (sŭs·pĕnd′), v. i. To cease from operation or activity; esp., to stop payment, or be unable to meet obligations or engagements (said of a commercial firm or a bank).

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.