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Stop vs Avoid - What's the difference?

stop | avoid |

In transitive terms the difference between stop and avoid

is that stop is to close or block an opening while avoid is to keep away from; to keep clear of; to endeavor not to meet; to shun; to abstain from.

As verbs the difference between stop and avoid

is that stop is to cease moving while avoid is to keep away from; to keep clear of; to endeavor not to meet; to shun; to abstain from.

As a noun stop

is a (usually marked) place where line buses, trams or trains halt to let passengers get on and off, usually smaller than a station.

As an adverb stop

is prone to halting or hesitation.

As an interjection stop

is halt! stop.

stop

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) (m), (m), from (etyl) . More at stuff, stump. Alternate etymology derives Proto-Germanic *stupp?n? from an assumed . This derivation, however, is doubtful, as the earliest instances of the Germanic verb do not carry the meaning of "stuff, stop with tow". Rather, these senses developed later in response to influence from similar sounding words in Latin and RomanceThe Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia, "stop"..

Verb

(stopp)
  • (label) To cease moving.
  • * , chapter=5
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=Then everybody once more knelt, and soon the blessing was pronounced. The choir and the clergy trooped out slowly, […], down the nave to the western door. […] At a seemingly immense distance the surpliced group stopped to say the last prayer.}}
  • (label) To come to an end.
  • (label) To cause (something) to cease moving or progressing.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-01, volume=407, issue=8838
  • , page=13 (Technology Quarterly), magazine=(The Economist) , title= Ideas coming down the track , passage=A “moving platform” scheme
  • (label) To cause (something) to come to an end.
  • (label) To close or block an opening.
  • To adjust the aperture of a camera lens.
  • (label) To stay; to spend a short time; to reside temporarily.
  • * R. D. Blackmore
  • * 1931 , , Mapp & Lucia , chapter 7
  • (label) To tarry.
  • (label) To regulate the sounds of (musical strings, etc.) by pressing them against the fingerboard with the finger, or otherwise shortening the vibrating part.
  • (label) To punctuate.
  • * Landor
  • (label) To make fast; to stopper.
  • Usage notes
    * This is a catenative verb that takes the gerund (-ing)'' or the ''to infinitive. See for more information.
    Synonyms
    * (to cease moving) brake, desist, halt * (to come to an end) blin, cease, desist, discontinue, halt, terminate * (to cause to cease moving) cancel, cease, discontinue, halt, terminate * (to cause to come to an end) blin, cancel, cease, discontinue, halt, terminate
    Antonyms
    * (to cease moving) continue, go, move, proceed * (to come to an end) continue, proceed * (to cause to cease moving) continue, move * (to cause to come to an end) continue, move
    Derived terms
    * stop-and-search / stop-and-frisk * stop by * stopcock * stop down * stop in * stop off * stop out * stop over * stop up * stopwatch * the buck stops here

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A (usually marked) place where line buses, trams or trains halt to let passengers get on and off, usually smaller than a station.
  • An action of stopping; interruption of travel.
  • * De Foe
  • * Sir Isaac Newton
  • * John Locke
  • A device intended to block the path of a moving object; as, a door stop.
  • (label) A consonant sound in which the passage of air through the mouth is temporarily blocked by the lips, tongue, or glottis; a plosive.
  • A symbol used for purposes of punctuation and representing a pause or separating clauses, particularly a full stop, comma, colon or semicolon.
  • That which stops, impedes, or obstructs; an obstacle; an impediment.
  • * Daniel
  • * Rogers
  • A function that halts playback or recording in devices such as videocassette and DVD player.
  • (label) A button that activates the stop function.
  • (label) A knob or pin used to regulate the flow of air in an organ.
  • (label) A very short shot which touches the ground close behind the net and is intended to bounce as little as possible.
  • (label) The depression in a dog’s face between the skull and the nasal bones.
  • (label) An f-stop.
  • (label) A device, or piece, as a pin, block, pawl, etc., for arresting or limiting motion, or for determining the position to which another part shall be brought.
  • (label) A member, plain or moulded, formed of a separate piece and fixed to a jamb, against which a door or window shuts.
  • The diaphragm used in optical instruments to cut off the marginal portions of a beam of light passing through lenses.
  • Synonyms
    * (place for vehicles to load and unload passengers) halt, station * (consonant sound where air is blocked) plosive, occlusive
    Derived terms
    * bus stop * truck stop
    References

    Adverb

    (-)
  • Prone to halting or hesitation.
  • Interjection

    (en interjection)
  • halt! stop!
  • Punctuation

    (en-punctuation mark)
  • Etymology 2

    From (etyl) (m), from (etyl) . See stoup.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A small well-bucket; a milk-pail.
  • Statistics

    *

    avoid

    English

    Verb

  • To keep away from; to keep clear of; to endeavor not to meet; to shun; to abstain from.
  • :I try to avoid the company of gamblers.
  • *1526 , Bible , tr. William Tyndale, Matthew 4:
  • *:The devyllsayde unto hym: all these will I geve the, iff thou wilt faull doune and worship me. Then sayde Jesus unto hym. Avoyde Satan.
  • *Milton
  • *:What need a man forestall his date of grief, / And run to meet what he would most avoid ?
  • *Macaulay
  • *:He carefully avoided every act which could goad them into open hostility.
  • *{{quote-news, year=2012, date=June 19, author=Phil McNulty, work=BBC Sport
  • , title= England 1-0 Ukraine , passage=England could have met world and European champions Spain but that eventuality was avoided by Sweden's 2-0 win against France, and Rooney's first goal in a major tournament since scoring twice in the 4-2 victory over Croatia in Lisbon at Euro 2004.}}
  • (obsolete) To make empty; to clear.
  • :(Wyclif)
  • To make void, to annul; to refute (especially a contract).
  • *Spenser
  • *:How can these grants of the king's be avoided ?
  • (legal) To defeat or evade; to invalidate. Thus, in a replication, the plaintiff may deny the defendant's plea, or confess it, and avoid it by stating new matter.
  • :(Blackstone)
  • (obsolete) To emit or throw out; to void; as, to avoid excretions.
  • :(Sir Thomas Browne)
  • (obsolete) To leave, evacuate; to leave as empty, to withdraw or come away from.
  • *:
  • *:Anone they encountred to gyders / and he with the reed shelde smote hym soo hard that he bare hym ouer to the erthe / There with anone came another Knyght of the castel / and he was smyten so sore that he auoyded his fadel
  • *Francis Bacon
  • *:Six of us only stayed, and the rest avoided the room.
  • (obsolete) To get rid of.
  • :(Shakespeare)
  • (obsolete) To retire; to withdraw, depart, go away.
  • (obsolete) To become void or vacant.
  • Usage notes

    * This is a catenative verb that takes the gerund (-ing) . See

    Derived terms

    * avoid like the plague