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halt

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bring someone or something to a halt

to cause someone or something to stop immediately. The explosion brought the lecture to a halt. I brought the visitor to a halt at the front gate.

See also: bring, halt

call a halt to something

to demand that something be stopped. We must call a halt to this childish behavior. The manager called a halt to all overtime.

See also: call, halt

come to a halt

to stop; to slow down and stop. Slowly, the train came to a halt. After the bus came to a halt, more people got on.

See also: come, halt

grind to a halt

Fig. to slow down and stop. Every day about noon, traffic in town grinds to a halt. The bus ground to a halt at the corner and someone got off.

See also: grind, halt

call a halt (to something)

to stop something When the rain got very heavy, the referees called a halt to the game.

See also: call, halt

grind to a halt

to slowly come to a stop Traffic on the interstate almost ground to a halt today because it was so foggy. The strike has caused production of new cars to grind to a halt.

See also: grind, halt

grind to a halt/standstill

if an organization, system, or process grinds to a halt, it stops working, usually because of a problem If the computer network crashed, the whole office would grind to a halt.

See also: grind, halt

call a halt

Order something stopped, as in It was getting too dark to see the ball, so the referee called a halt to the match, or They'd played the march four times, so the conductor called a halt to the rehearsal. [Late 1800s]

See also: call, halt

come to a halt

Also, come to a standstill. Stop, either permanently or temporarily. For example, The sergeant ordered the men to come to a halt, or With the strike, construction came to a standstill. Both terms employ come to in the sense of "arrive at" or "reach," a usage dating from the 10th century. Also see come to, def. 2.

See also: come, halt

grind to a halt

Also, come to a grinding halt. Gradually come to a standstill or end. For example, Once the funding stopped, the refurbishing project ground to a halt, or She's come to a grinding halt with that book she's writing. This expression alludes to a clogged engine that gradually stops or a ship that runs aground.

See also: grind, halt