standstill

UK/ˈstændˌstɪl/US/ˈstændˌstɪl/

nounB2+Occasional — familiar, but not everyday · #10,569 of 15,258neutral

A standstill is a complete halt to all movement. Come to a standstill, at a standstill, traffic at a standstill.

It is always in a phrase with come to or at, and it means nothing is moving at all rather than merely slowly. In pay negotiations, a standstill agreement is one where both sides promise to change nothing while they talk.

Definitions of standstill

1nounstandstillA complete halt to all movement.B2+
“The strike brought the factory to a complete standstill for a week.”

standstill is a halt.

Where it comes from

Stand plus still, on the model of the same compound in Dutch and German.

From stand + still, a a deverbal from stand still. Compare Dutch stilstand (“a standstill”), German Stillstand (“a standstill”), Danish stilstand (“a standstill”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

standstill in the wild

The track stand or standstill is a technique that bicycle riders can use to maintain balance while their bicycle remains stationary or moves only minimal distances.
Track stand
A standstill is a situation of no movement or activity.
Standstill
The term standstill agreement refers to various forms of agreement which may be entered into in order to delay action which might otherwise take place.
Standstill agreement
The Moon comes to an apparent so-called standstill as it changes at that point direction of moving between northern and southern positions in the course of a month.
Lunar standstill
The last minor lunar standstill was in October 2015, and the next one will be in 2034.
Lunar standstill

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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