standstill
nounAU, CA, US, UK /ˈstændˌstɪl/ · [ˈstɛən(d)ˌstɪɫ]
Etymology From stand + still, a deverbal from stand still. Compare Dutch stilstand (“a standstill”), German Stillstand (“a standstill”), Danish stilstand (“a standstill”).
1
A complete immobility; a halt.
- The wreck brought traffic to a standstill for hours.
- Despite all these precautions, however, severe storms sometimes caused drifts which brought traffic completely to a standstill.1955 December, H. A. Vallance, “The Highland Centenary—2”, in Railway Magazine, page 859:
2 more examples
- [...] but in the damp conditions prevailing the driver sensibly was unwilling to attempt the climb up through Combe Down tunnel without help, for fear of slipping to a standstill in the unventilated bore, [...].1960 March, “Motive Power Miscellany: Western Region”, in Trains Illustrated, page 184:
- For the caller the advantage relies on a fast solution of his service request, leading to less standstill and non-productive periods for the service customer.2012, James C. Spohrer, Louis E. Freund, Advances in the Human Side of Service Engineering:
- Derived terms
- standstill agreement