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standstill

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bring something to a standstill

to cause a process or a job to reach a point at which it must stop. The accident brought the work to a standstill. The strike brought construction to a standstill.

See also: bring, standstill

come to a halt

to stop; to slow down and stop. Slowly, the train came to a halt. After the bus came to a halt, more people got on.

See also: come, halt

come to a standstill

[for something] to slow down and finally stop; to stop completely. (Usually refers to something that is progressing, such as work, traffic, negotiations.) As the strike began, the production line came to a standstill. At the height of rush hour, traffic comes to a standstill.

See also: come, standstill

grind to a halt

Fig. to slow down and stop. Every day about noon, traffic in town grinds to a halt. The bus ground to a halt at the corner and someone got off.

See also: grind, halt

grind to a halt

to slowly come to a stop Traffic on the interstate almost ground to a halt today because it was so foggy. The strike has caused production of new cars to grind to a halt.

See also: grind, halt

grind to a halt/standstill

if an organization, system, or process grinds to a halt, it stops working, usually because of a problem If the computer network crashed, the whole office would grind to a halt.

See also: grind, halt

come to a halt

Also, come to a standstill. Stop, either permanently or temporarily. For example, The sergeant ordered the men to come to a halt, or With the strike, construction came to a standstill. Both terms employ come to in the sense of "arrive at" or "reach," a usage dating from the 10th century. Also see come to, def. 2.

See also: come, halt

grind to a halt

Also, come to a grinding halt. Gradually come to a standstill or end. For example, Once the funding stopped, the refurbishing project ground to a halt, or She's come to a grinding halt with that book she's writing. This expression alludes to a clogged engine that gradually stops or a ship that runs aground.

See also: grind, halt