Stop v. t. [imp. & p. p. Stopped p. pr. & vb. n. Stopping.]
1. To close, as an aperture, by filling or by obstructing; as, to stop the ears; hence, to stanch, as a wound.
2. To obstruct; to render impassable; as, to stop a way, road, or passage.
3. To arrest the progress of; to hinder; to impede; to shut in; as, to stop a traveler; to stop the course of a stream, or a flow of blood.
4. To hinder from acting or moving; to prevent the effect or efficiency of; to cause to cease; to repress; to restrain; to suppress; to interrupt; to suspend; as, to stop the execution of a decree, the progress of vice, the approaches of old age or infirmity.
Whose disposition all the world well knows
Will not be rubbed nor stopped. --Shak.
5. Mus. To regulate the sounds of, as musical strings, by pressing them against the finger board with the finger, or by shortening in any way the vibrating part.
6. To point, as a composition; to punctuate. [R.]
If his sentences were properly stopped. --Landor.
7. Naut. To make fast; to stopper.
Syn: -- To obstruct; hinder; impede; repress; suppress; restrain; discontinue; delay; interrupt.
To stop off Founding, to fill (a part of a mold) with sand, where a part of the cavity left by the pattern is not wanted for the casting.
To stop the mouth. See under Mouth.