Standstill

Definition: Standstill

Standstill

Noun

1. A situation in which no progress can be made: "reached an impasse on the negotiations".

2. An interruption of normal activity.

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "standstill" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1596. (references)

Synonyms: Standstill

Cessation

Intromit, interrupt, suspend, interpel; intermit, remit; put an end to, put a stop to, put a period to; derail; turn off, switch off, power down, deactivate, disconnect; bring to a stand, bring to a standstill; stop, cut short, arrest, stem the tide, stem the torrent; pull the check-string, pull the plug on.

Come to a stand, come to a standstill; come to a deadlock, come to a full stop; arrive; go out, die away; wear away, wear off; pass away; (be past); be at an end; disintegrate, self-destruct.

Difficulty

Set fast, stand, standstill; deadlock, dead set.

Reduced to straits; hard pressed, sorely pressed; run hard; pinched, put to it, straitened; hard up, hard put to it, hard set; put to one's shifts; puzzled, at a loss; (uncertain); at the end of one's tether, at the end of one's rope, at one's wit's end, at a nonplus, at a standstill; graveled, nonplused, nonplussed, stranded, aground; stuck fast, set fast; up a tree, at bay, aux abois, driven into a corner, driven from pillar to post, driven to extremity, driven to one's wit's end, driven to the wall; au bout de son Latin; out of one's depth; thrown out.

Get into a scrape; Noun: bring a hornet's nest about one's ears; be put to one's shifts; flounder, boggle, struggle; not know which way to turn; (uncertain); perdre son Latin; stick at, stick in the mud, stick fast; come to a stand, come to a standstill, come to a deadlock; hold the wolf by the ears, hold the tiger by the tail.

Permanence

Adverb: in statu quo; for good, finally; at a stand, at a standstill; uti possidetis; without a shadow of turning.

Quiescence

Adjective: quiescent, still; motionless, moveless; fixed; stationary; immotile; at rest at a stand, at a standstill, at anchor; stock, still; standing still; Verb: sedentary, untraveled, stay-at-home; becalmed, stagnant, quiet; unmoved, undisturbed, unruffled; calm, restful; cataleptic; immovable; (stable); sleeping; (inactive); silent; still as a statue, still as a post, still as a mouse, still as death; vegetative, vegetating.

Crosswords: Standstill

Dick Tracy. The sifting of ashes comes to a standstill with the discovery of one small article. Credit: Library of Congress.

Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

Health

So imprinted in our minds is the fear of plague that, even now, entering into the 21st century, a suspected plague outbreak can incite mass panic and bring much of the world's economy to a temporary standstill. (references)

Business

Except for certain export industries, particularly electronics, manufacturing came to a virtual standstill. (references)

This was followed by parliamentary elections, which brought economic activity to a virtual standstill for almost a month. (references)

Economic History

Haiti

Since then privatization has come to a standstill. (references)

Colombia

But environmental investments in both the public and private sectors were at a near standstill. (references)

Nigeria

Other unions then joined the strike, which brought economic life in the Lagos area and much of the southwest to a standstill. (references)

Minorities

Argentina

The investigation into the 1992 bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires has come to a virtual standstill. (references)

Political Economy

Moldova

As a result of a parliamentary standstill in electing a new president, the outgoing President Petru Lucinschi dismissed the Parliament on December 31, 2000 and set February 25, 2001 for early parliamentary elections. (references)

Sierra Leone

Although the country is rich in natural resources and minerals (particularly diamonds, gold, rutile, and bauxite) and has large areas of fertile land suitable for farming, the 10-year insurgency has brought mineral extraction and agricultural production almost to a standstill, except for illicit diamond mining. (references)

Worker Rights

Iceland

In April and May, there was also a 6-week seamen's strike, which brought the fishing industry to a standstill. (references)

Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Expressions using "standstill": at a standstill ♦ atrial standstill ♦ auricular standstill ♦ be at a standstill ♦ bring to a standstill ♦ come to a standstill. Additional references.

Albanian

qëndrim në vend, pushim (break, cease, cessation, chuck, discharge, dismissal, dismission, intermission, leave, letup, outage, pause, playtime, recess, recreation, relaxation, reprieve, respite, rest, stoppage), ndalesë (check, halt, pause, rest, stand, station, stop, stopover, stoppage, stopping). (various references)

Arabic 

‏توقف تام (cessation), ‏طريق مسدود (dead end, impasse, logjam, stalemate), ‏جامد (hard, immobile, inactive, indeclinable, inert, inflexible, insensible, motionless, muscle bound, rigid, solid, static, stationary, stiff), ‏ركود تام. (various references)

Bulgarian 

спиране (arrest, blocking, braking, catch, cease, cessation, discontinuance, dwell, halt, hold up, holdback, interruption, letup, prevention, retention, snub, stand, stay, stop, stopping, tie up), застой (deadlock, depression, dog days, dullness, halt, slack, stagnation, stasis, tie up), прекъсване (adjournment, breaking, cessation, check, cutback, discontinuance, discontinuation, discontinuity, disjunction, halt, intermission, interruption, knock, letup, outage, pause, pretermission, suspension, time out). (various references)

Chinese 

停顿 (Heeled, Heeling, stalling, Stallings). (various references)

Czech

přestávka (break, interlude, intermission, interval, lull, pause, rest, stop), ochabnutí, klid (calm, calmness, composure, coolness, countenance, ease, equanimity, imperturbability, peace, quiescence, quiescency, quiet, quietness, repose, rest, serenity, stand, still, stillness, tranquillity). (various references)

Farsi 

وقفه (Abeyance, Break, Caesura, Cease, Chasm, Deadlock, Gap, Hiatus, Interval, Jib, Paralysis, Pause, Station, Stick, Suspension), تعطیل (Holiday, Sunday, Suspension, Vacation), ایست (Caesura, Cease, Cessation, Close, Halt, Interval, Period, Stay, Stoppage, Suspension), ثابت (Equable, Firm, Immobile, Immovable, Indelible, Irremovable, Loyal, Pat, Permanent, Resolute, Stable, Staid, Steady, True), بدون حرکت (Stagnant). (various references)

Finnish

seisahdus (block, halt, stagnation, stop, stoppage), pysähdys (block, halt, pause, stop). (various references)

French

statu quo (status quo), marasme (stagnation), impasse (dead-end street, stalemate, stand off, stymie), immobile (stationary, still), arrêt (bus stop, stand, stand off, stop, stoppage, stopper, stopping). (various references)

German

Stillstand (cessation, halt, interruption, stagnancy, stagnation, stasis, stop, stoppage), Stockung (break, breakdown, congestion, curdling, hesitation, hold up, hold-up, interruption, jam, lull, pause, slackening off, thickening, traffic jam). (various references)

Greek 

στάση (attitude, bearing, bus stop, insurgence, insurgency, mutiny, pose, posture, rebellion, revolt, riot, sedition, stance, stand, standing, stasis, stop, stopover), ακινησία (immobility, immovability, stagnation, stalemate), ακινητοποίηση (immobilization). (various references)

Hebrew 

שבית�" (stoppage, strike, walkout), חוסר ת� וע�". (various references)

Hungarian

mozdulatlanság (immobility, movelessness), megállás (break in a journey, cease, check, halt, jolt, pause, stand, stop, stoppage, there is no standing still), leállás (offset, outage, stand, stoppage). (various references)

Indonesian

kemandekan (a halt, inertia, stagnation). (various references)

Italian

stasi (lull, stasis), punto morto (deadlock, stalemate, standoff), battuta d'arresto, arresto (apprehension, arrest, capture, check, deadlock, detention, halt, stand, stop, stoppage). (various references)

Japanese Kanji 

立往�"� (stalling, stranding), 停� " (abeyance, deadlock, set-back, stalemate), 停止 (abeyance, ban, deadlock, interruption, stalemate, stoppage, suspension). (various references)

Japanese Katakana 

たちおうじょう (bring to a standstill, stalling, stranding), ていと�" (abeyance, deadlock, set-back, stalemate), ていし (abeyance, adherent, apprentice, ban, cessation, deadlock, disciple, exhibition, follower, interruption, ladder, low-interest funds, pupil, stairs, stalemate, stoppage, suspension, teacher's student-helper, young person). (various references)

Manx

stad (arrest, intermission, pull up, stage, stand, station, stationary, stay, stop, stop point, stop sign, stoppage, stopping place). (various references)

Pig Latin

andstillstay

Portuguese

pausa (break, breath, breather, caesura, cessation, check, halt, intermission, interruption, interval, letup, pause, recess, respite, rest, stopping, time-out, truce), paralisação, paragem (checkout, flag-station, halt, intermission, location, place, spot, station, stay, stop, stoppage, stopping), imobilização (immobilisation, immobilization, locking up, restraint). (various references)

Romanian

punct mort (dead center, dead centre, dead point, deadlock), oprire (arrest, ban, block, call off, cease, cessation, containment, end, foreclosure, halt, interruption, let up, obstruction, pause, prohibition, retention, stage, stall, stand, station, stay, stick, stop, stoppage, stopping). (various references)

Russian 

застой (sluggishness, stagnancy, stagnation, stasis), затишье (lull, slack), бездействие (hibernation, inaction, inactivity, inertia, slack). (various references)

Serbo-Croatian

zastoj (deadlock, halt, hitch, hold up, malfunction, misfire, pause, slowdown, stagnancy, stagnation, stand, stasis, stoppage, tie up). (various references)

Spanish

paro (arrest, chickadee, shutdown, stoppage, strike, tit), paralización (paralyzation, stagnation, stalemate, tie up), parada (boasting, check, detention, halt, lieu, parade, Parry, pen, pull up, rank, relay, save, stake, stand, stop, stoping, stoppage, stopping place), alto (aloud, alto, contralto, contralto voice, halt, high, lofty, long, loud, stop, tall, upper, upward). (various references)

Swedish

stockning (catch, congestion, hold up, jam), stillastående (dead, idle, stagnant, stagnation, stationary). (various references)

Turkish

sekteye uğrayan, sekte (failure, interruption, pause), kımıldamama, durma (cessation, full stop, go ahead, halt, pause, pose, stay, stop, stoppage, tie up), duraklayan, duraklama (discontinuance, discontinuation, lag), askıya alınma, askıya alınan (suspensive). (various references)

Ukrainian

зупинка (arrest, cessation, check, halt, halting, stop, stoppage, stopping, tie up, trapping), бездіяльність (hibernation, inaction, inactivity, non-feasance, otiosity, slack, torpidity). (various references)

Vietnamese 

sự ngừng lại (let-up, stop, stoppage), sự đứng lại sự bế tắc. (various references)

estale. (various references)

Derivations

Words beginning with "standstill": standstills. (additional references)

Misspellings

"Standstill" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: sandspill. (additional references)

Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

-2 letters: installs.

-3 letters: distant, install, instals, islands, lattins, tanists.

-4 letters: distal, instal, island, lattin, sadist, saints, satins, slants, snails, stains, stalls, stands, stills, stilts, stints, taints, tallis, tallit, tanist, titans, tsadis.

-5 letters: adits, alist, anils, antis, atilt, dials, dills, dints, ditas, lands, lasts, lilts, lints, lists, litas, nails, nidal, nills, sadis, saids, sails, sains, saint.

+1 letter: standstills.

+3 letters: distillations.

+5 letters: redistillations.