STOPS Synonyms: 340 Similar and Opposite Words

stops 1 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of stop

as in ceases

to bring (as an action or operation) to an immediate end the manufacturer will stop selling the toy and will immediately recall all the units that have already been sold

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Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in halts

to bring (something) to a standstill traffic was stopped for over an hour by the overturned truck

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as in fills

to close up so that no empty spaces remain I stopped the mouse hole with plaster

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as in ends

to come to an end the music stopped but we kept on dancing

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as in overcomes

to achieve a victory over they were eventually stopped by the best team in the league

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stops

2 of 2

noun

plural of stop

as in breaks

a brief halt in a journey our guide called for a stop at the trail hut so we could eat and rest a bit

Synonyms & Similar Words

as in stations

a regular stopping place had lunch on a picnic table at a shady rest stop along the highway

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as in obstacles

something that makes movement or progress difficult pulled out all the stops and presented the most spectacular show ever

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as in cessations

the stopping of a process or activity put a stop to this nonsense

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of stops

Verb

The New Braunfels, Texas, resident kept a frenetic touring schedule, headlining major Texas venues and mid-sized dance halls around the country, with occasional arena or amphitheater stops opening for Koe Wetzel thrown in. — Josh Crutchmer, Rolling Stone, 25 Oct. 2026 Nighttime mouth breathing is associated with snoring, dry mouth, receding gums and sleep apnea, a disorder in which breathing stops repeatedly during sleep. — Samantha Agate, Charlotte Observer, 24 Oct. 2026 Yes, Googlebooks are fine companions to your Android phone, but that's about where their value proposition stops. — Joe Osborne, PC Magazine, 24 Oct. 2026 When an organization crosses the point where its own product is being built recursively by its own product, the productivity math stops looking like a J-curve and starts looking like a hockey stick. — Stephen Messer, Fortune, 23 Oct. 2026 The schoolwide free lunch program stops meal debt from accumulating, reduces stigma associated with public benefits, and removes the need to collect and verify meal applications for four years — reducing the paperwork burden on families and schools. — Lauren Lumpkin, Washington Post, 22 Oct. 2026 The plot is carried out to horrific proportions, but the subjects are so utterly moronic that the gag stops being amusing. — Frank Scheck, HollywoodReporter, 22 Oct. 2026 Last week, when Ocasio-Cortez made three campaign stops for Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, neither Democrat — and no audience members — brought up the topic of Gaza. — David Weigel, semafor.com, 19 Oct. 2026 In January 2025, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch changed the department pursuit policy, barring cops from chasing after vehicles fleeing car stops unless a felony crime or a violent misdemeanor was committed. — John Annese, New York Daily News, 18 Oct. 2026

Noun

Fifth-year cornerback Jaden Mickey made some big stops, including a pass breakup, while the defensive front produced four sacks for 37 yards and seven tackles for loss. — Shaun Goodwin, Idaho Statesman, 25 Oct. 2026 At some point, however, Heritage needed a few defensive stops. — Charles Baggarly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 24 Oct. 2026 Variable-frequency drives regulate lifting, rotation, and jib movement, enabling smoother starts and stops and finer adjustments when positioning heavy components. — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 24 Oct. 2026 Panarin beat rusty backup Semyon Varlamov glove side twice, and Darcy Kuemper kept making stops even as his rebound control was lacking, finishing with 41 saves. — Los Angeles Times, 23 Oct. 2026 But no public photos or campaign stops with the two together of them have emerged since. — Claire Heddles, Miami Herald, 23 Oct. 2026 One of his stops was the Assembly Hall at the University of Illinois. — Joe Kinsey Outkick, FOXNews.com, 17 Oct. 2026 Arizona stands out as the lone swing state among the president's recent stops, though the airport rally was in a county Trump won with 78% of the vote in 2024. — Arkansas Online, 16 Oct. 2026 During three different stops Thursday on his Senate campaign’s bus tour through redder, rural areas of this swing state, El-Sayed and Ocasio-Cortez drew crowds that showed notable star power. — Nicholas Wu, semafor.com, 16 Oct. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for stops

Verb

If the person holding key intellectual property or leading the company risks losing status, immigration planning ceases to be a personal ordeal.

— Bernardo Saraiva, Forbes.com, 16 Oct. 2026
There is a point beyond which the scale of a threat or a danger ceases to scare us.

— Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, New Yorker, 27 Sep. 2026

Definition of ceases

Verb

There’s just a single SD card slot, so there’s no option for redundant backup storage, but the FP2 does come with 70GB of storage built-in that can be used when your memory card unexpectedly fills up.

— Andrew Liszewski, The Verge, 23 Oct. 2026
Shapira fills a plate with a crab cake, two chicken tenders, and a salad, lamenting the fattiness of American food.

— Margaux MacColl, Vanity Fair, 21 Oct. 2026

Definition of fills

Verb

The decision, for now, ends Grab’s first attempt to expand outside Southeast Asia.

— Jay Ganglani, Fortune, 22 Oct. 2026
The loss of Flyte and Coe (Tom Brooke) earlier in the season leaves the Horses a little worse for wear, but Slow Horses has one parting blow for our semi-competent hero, River (Jack Lowden), before the season ends.

— Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 21 Oct. 2026

Definition of ends

Noun

Beyond the breaks stood forests of giant kelp, each capable of growing as much as 50 centimeters a day.

— Alec Luhn, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026
Some kids come into this life and catch all the breaks and start making money and going places and radiating confidence and functionality and the world opens right up to them.

— George Saunders, New Yorker, 18 Oct. 2026

Definition of breaks

Noun

Peppered between political content on the Bulletin’s social media feeds is a smattering of reels related to nonpolitical news, often featuring videos lifted directly from local TV stations.

— Clara Harter, Los Angeles Times, 25 Oct. 2026
Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said in a social media post that the soldiers were only recently allowed to use plastic restraint ties and only in areas around train stations, not throughout the city.

— ABC News, ABC News, 24 Oct. 2026

Definition of stations

Noun

Icy weather, snowstorms, obstructive foliage and rugged terrain along the wild Rockies were just some of the obstacles Ben Nickell and Anne Koski faced on a 10-year journey to climb the highest point in each of Idaho’s 44 counties.

— Harllie Stevenson, Idaho Statesman, 20 Oct. 2026
Long before launch, the team faced obstacles that nearly thwarted the endeavor — chiefly, two rejections from NASA — before finally securing the green light for the $1 billion project under the New Frontiers Program in 2011.

— Sharmila Kuthunur, Space.com, 20 Oct. 2026

Definition of obstacles

Browse Nearby Words

stoppling

stops

stops (by)

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Style

“Stops.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stops. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of stops

verb

noun

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