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PlainSpell

halt

UK /hɒlt/obsolete

halt is spelled H-A-L-T: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 8.5 times per million words in written English, the 7,910th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, halt means “Acronym of hungry, angry, lonely, (or) tired” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of halt is halts.

How many letters and syllables are in halt?

Letters4: H-A-L-T
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing8.5 times per million words; the 7,910th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is halt?

Halt appears 8.5 times per million words in written English, the 7,910th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce halt?

  • UK /hɒlt/
  • UK /hɔːlt/
  • /hɔlt/

Halt has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-I_learned_some_phrases-halt.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with halt?

3 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as halt from its last stressed vowel (/ɒlt/, British pronunciation):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: lath.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of halt

  • halts present, singular, he/she/it
  • halting participle, present
  • halted participle, past
  • more halt comparative
  • most halt superlative

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does halt mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    obsoleteA cessation, either temporary or permanent.

    The contract negotiations put a halt to operations.

  2. 2

    obsoleteA minor railway station (usually unstaffed) in the United Kingdom.

    The halt itself never achieved much importance, even with workers coming to and from the adjacent works.

  3. 3

    datedobsoleteLameness; a limp.

  4. 4

    IrelandUKobsoleteA small railroad station, usually unstaffed or with very few staff, and with few or no facilities.

noun

as HALT
  1. 1

    Acronym of hungry, angry, lonely, (or) tired.

verb

  1. 1

    obsoleteTo limp; move with a limping gait.

  2. 2

    obsoleteTo stand in doubt whether to proceed, or what to do; hesitate; be uncertain; linger; delay; mammer.

  3. 3

    obsoleteTo be lame, faulty, or defective, as in connection with ideas, or in measure, or in versification.

  4. 4

    obsoleteTo waver.

  5. 5

    obsoleteTo falter.

  6. 6

    obsoleteTo stop marching.

  7. 7

    obsoleteTo stop either temporarily or permanently.

  8. 8

    obsoleteTo bring to a stop.

  9. 9

    obsoleteTo cause to discontinue.

    The contract negotiations halted operations for at least a week.

adjective

  1. 1

    archaicobsoleteLame, limping.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Halt in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchfaire halte, suspendre (to stop either temporarily or permanently), arrêter, halter, stopper (to cause something to stop), halte (minor railway station)
Germananhalten, stoppen, rasten (to stop either temporarily or permanently), stocken (to cause something to stop), Halt, Blockierung (cessation)
Portugueseestagnar (to stop either temporarily or permanently), apeadeiro (minor railway station)
Spanishcajonear, dar carpetazo, engavetar, parar (to stop either temporarily or permanently), alto, halto (cessation)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does halt come from?

From Middle French halt, from early modern German halt (“stop!”), imperative of halten (“to hold, to stop”). Doublet of hold (see that entry for more information).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after halt