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PlainSpell

pause

UK /pɔːz/verb, noun, interjection

pause is spelled P-A-U-S-E: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 10 times per million words in written English, the 7,121st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, pause means “To take a temporary rest, take a break for a short period after an effort” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in pause?

Letters5: P-A-U-S-E
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing10 times per million words; the 7,121st most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Sounds like
Rhymes with

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 pause?

Pause appears 10 times per million words in written English, the 7,121st 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 pause?

  • UK /pɔːz/
  • British /poːz/
  • /pɔz/

Pause 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)-Vealhurl-pause.wav, En-us-pause.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with pause

Sounds like: paws (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with pause?

4 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as pause from its last stressed vowel (/ɔz/, British pronunciation):

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 pause

  • pauses present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • pausing participle, present
  • paused participle, past

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

What does pause mean?

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

verb

  1. 1

    To take a temporary rest, take a break for a short period after an effort.

  2. 2

    To stop (an activity) for a while.

  3. 3

    To interrupt an activity and wait.

    When telling the scary story, he paused for effect.

  4. 4

    To hesitate; to hold back; to delay.

  5. 5

    To halt the play or playback of, temporarily, so that it can be resumed from the same point.

    to pause a song, a video, or a computer game

  6. 6

    obsoleteTo consider; to reflect.

noun

  1. 1

    A temporary stop or rest; an intermission of action; interruption; suspension; cessation.

  2. 2

    A short time for relaxing and doing something else.

  3. 3

    Hesitation; suspense; doubt.

    to take pause

  4. 4

    In writing and printing, a mark indicating the place and nature of an arrest of voice in reading; a punctuation mark.

    Teach the pupil to mind the pauses.

  5. 5

    A break or paragraph in writing.

  6. 6

    A sign indicating continuance of a note or rest.

  7. 7

    Alternative letter-case form of Pause (“a button that pauses or resumes something”).

interjection

  1. 1

    slangUsed immediately after a statement to indicate that there was no innuendo or homosexual meaning intended, especially when such a meaning is a reasonable interpretation.

noun

as Pause
  1. 1

    A button whose functions are pausing and resuming something, such as a DVD player, a video game or a computer.

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

Pause in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Germanpausieren (to take a temporary rest or break), innehalten (to interrupt something), Pause (temporary stop or rest)
Portuguesedescansar (to take a temporary rest or break), pausar (to interrupt something), pausa (temporary stop or rest)
Spanishdescansar (to take a temporary rest or break), pausar, interrumpir, suspender, parar (to interrupt something), pausa (temporary stop or rest)
Frenchfaire une pause, pauser, interrompre (to interrupt something), pause (temporary stop or rest)

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 pause come from?

From Middle French pause, from Latin pausa, from Ancient Greek παῦσις (paûsis), from Ancient Greek παύω (paúō, “stop”), of uncertain origin. Doublet of pausa.

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

What to look up after pause