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Respite vs Pause - What's the difference?

respite | pause | Related terms |

In transitive terms the difference between respite and pause

is that respite is to delay or postpone while pause is to halt the play or playback of, temporarily, so that it can be resumed from the same point.

respite

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • A brief interval of rest or relief.
  • * Denham
  • Some pause and respite only I require.
  • * Shakespeare
  • I crave but four day's respite .
  • *, chapter=10
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=It was a joy to snatch some brief respite , and find himself in the rectory drawing–room. Listening here was as pleasant as talking; just to watch was pleasant. The young priests who lived here wore cassocks and birettas; their faces were fine and mild, yet really strong, like the rector's face; and in their intercourse with him and his wife they seemed to be brothers.}}
  • * 2013 May 23, (Sarah Lyall), " British Leader’s Liberal Turn Sets Off a Rebellion in His Party," New York Times (retrieved 29 May 2013):
  • Mr. Cameron had a respite Thursday from the negative chatter swirling around him when he appeared outside 10 Downing Street to denounce the murder a day before of a British soldier on a London street.
  • (legal) A reprieve, especially from a sentence of death.
  • (legal) The delay of appearance at court granted to a jury beyond the proper term.
  • Verb

    (en-verb)
  • To delay or postpone.
  • pause

    English

    Verb

    (paus)
  • To interrupt an activity and wait.
  • When telling the scary story, he paused for effect.
  • * (William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • Tarry, pause a day or two.
  • * (John Milton) (1608-1674)
  • pausing while thus to herself she mused
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
  • , chapter=15 citation , passage=She paused and took a defiant breath. ‘If you don't believe me, I can't help it. But I'm not a liar.’ ¶ ‘No,’ said Luke, grinning at her. ‘You're not dull enough!
  • To hesitate; to hold back; to delay.
  • * (William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • Why doth the Jew pause ? Take thy forfeiture.
  • 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
  • (obsolete) To consider; to reflect.
  • * (William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • Take time to pause .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A temporary stop or rest; an intermission of action; interruption; suspension; cessation.
  • * , chapter=23
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=If the afternoon was fine they strolled together in the park, very slowly, and with pauses to draw breath wherever the ground sloped upward. The slightest effort made the patient cough. He would stand leaning on a stick and holding a hand to his side, and when the paroxysm had passed it left him shaking.}}
  • A short time for relaxing and doing something else.
  • Hesitation; suspense; doubt.
  • * (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
  • I stand in pause where I shall first begin.
  • In writing and printing, a mark indicating the place and nature of an arrest of voice in reading; a punctuation mark.
  • A break or paragraph in writing.
  • * (John Locke) (1632-1705)
  • He writes with warmth, which usually neglects method, and those partitions and pauses which men educated in schools observe.
  • (as direct object) take pause': hesitate; give ' pause : cause to hesitate