What does stop mean?
Word: Stop
Part of Speech: Verb
Meaning: Stop means to end a movement or an action, so that something is no longer moving or happening. As a noun, a stop is also a place where a bus or train halts to let people on and off.
Synonyms: halt, cease, quit, pause
Antonyms: start, continue
How do you spell stop?
Syllables: stop
Tricky part: Stop itself is short and easy, but its forms catch students out: the p doubles before ed and ing, so we write stopped and stopping, never stoped or stoping.
Watch out for: stoped, stoping
Memory tip: Read stop backwards and you get pots. Picture a row of pots placed across a road to make the traffic stop.
Idioms and Phrases
- stop at nothing: To be ready to do anything at all to get what you want. Example: "The team would stop at nothing to win the inter-school trophy."
- put a stop to: To make something end, especially something bad. Example: "The principal put a stop to running in the corridors."
Stop in a sentence
Example 1: Please stop the scooter near the vegetable stall.
Example 2: The rain did not stop until late in the evening.
Example 3: Our school bus has its last stop outside the post office.
Fun Fact
Most countries use an eight-sided red sign for STOP, so drivers can recognise it by its shape even when snow or dust covers the letters.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word:
stop
a) begin
b) brake
c) wait
d) rest
Show answer
a) begin. Waiting, resting and braking all go with coming to a halt; to begin is to set something going.
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the correctly spelt word:
a) signel
b) trafic
c) pedestrain
d) stop
Show answer
d) stop. Signal ends in al, traffic has a double f and pedestrian ends in ian; stop is spelt right.
Word Cookie
Insert the correct pair of letters to form a word:
_t_p
a) s, o
b) s, u
c) c, o
d) s, a
Show answer
a) s, o. Only s and o build a real word here: the stop a bus makes at the corner.
Word Makeup
Choose the correctly spelt compound word:
a) birthdey
b) stopwatch
c) sunglases
d) footpaht
Show answer
b) stopwatch. Footpath ends in th, sunglasses has a double s and birthday ends in ay; stopwatch is spelt right.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which sentence uses stop as a noun?
a) We waited at the bus stop.
b) They always stop at six.
c) The clock will stop soon.
d) Please stop talking now.
Show answer
a) We waited at the bus stop.
2. Arjun's watch stopped at four o'clock. What does this tell you?
a) It was running fast after four.
b) Its hands were not moving after four.
c) Its alarm rang at four.
d) Arjun took it off at four.
Show answer
b) Its hands were not moving after four.
