halt

• IPA^(key): /hɔːlt/
• (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /hɑlt/
• Rhymes: -ɔːlt

From Middle English halten, from Old English healtian (“to be lame, walk with a limp”), from Proto-Germanic *haltōną. English usage in the sense of 'make a halt' is from the noun. Cognate with North Frisian halte, Swedish halta.

halt (third-person singular simple present halts, present participle halting, simple past and past participle halted)

1. (intransitive) To limp; move with a limping gait.
   • Shakespeare

     Here comes Sir Toby halting — you shall hear more; but if he had not been in drink, he would have tickled you othergates than he did.

   • 1610, The Tempest, by Shakespeare, act 4 scene 1

     Do not smile at me that I boast her of,

     For thou shalt find she will outstrip all praise,

     And make it halt behind her.

2. (intransitive) To stand in doubt whether to proceed, or what to do; hesitate; be uncertain; linger; delay; mammer.
   • Bible, 1 Kings xviii. 21

     How long halt ye between two opinions?

3. (intransitive) To be lame, faulty, or defective, as in connection with ideas, or in measure, or in versification.
4. To waver.
5. To falter.

From Middle French halt, from early modern German halt (“stop!”), imperative of halten (“to hold, to stop”). More at hold.

halt (third-person singular simple present halts, present participle halting, simple past and past participle halted)

1. (intransitive) To stop marching.
2. (intransitive) To stop either temporarily or permanently.
   • 1907, Robert William Chambers, chapter I, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, OCLC 24962326:

     And it was while all were passionately intent upon the pleasing and snake-like progress of their uncle that a young girl in furs, ascending the stairs two at a time, peeped perfunctorily into the nursery as she passed the hallway—and halted amazed.

3. (transitive) To bring to a stop.
4. (transitive) To cause to discontinue.

   The contract negotiations halted operations for at least a week.

• (to stop marching):
• (to stop): brake, desist, stay; See also Thesaurus:stop
• (to cause something to stop): freeze, immobilize; See also Thesaurus:immobilize
• (to cause to discontinue): break off, terminate, shut down, stop; See also Thesaurus:desist

halt (plural halts)

1. A cessation, either temporary or permanent.

   The contract negotiations put a halt to operations.

   • Clarendon

     Without any halt they marched.

2. (rail transport) A minor railway station (usually unstaffed) in the United Kingdom.

   The halt itself never achieved much importance, even with workers coming to and from the adjacent works.

Old English healt (verb healtian), from Proto-Germanic *haltaz. Cognate with Danish halt, Swedish halt.

halt (comparative more halt, superlative most halt)

1. (archaic) Lame, limping.
   • 1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, Mark IX:

     It is better for the to goo halt into lyfe, then with ij. fete to be cast into hell […]

   • Bible, Luke xiv. 21

     Bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.

halt (plural halts)

1. (dated) Lameness; a limp.

• lath, thal

From Middle High German halt. Cognate with German halt (adverb).

• IPA^(key): /halt/

halt

1. so, just, simply
   • 1978, Rolf Lyssy & Christa Maerker, Die Schweizermacher, (transcript):

     Chömmer halt e chli früner. Schadet a nüt.

     So we'll arrive a little earlier. Won't do any harm.

halt

1. lame

• IPA^(key): /halt/

From the verb halten (“to hold; to stop”).

halt

1. Imperative singular of halten.

halt!

1. stop!, wait!

• → Dutch: halt
• → Italian: alt
• → Middle French: halt
  • French: halte
    • → Dutch: halte
  • → English: halt

From Middle High German halt, pertaining to Old High German halto (“soon, fast”).

halt

1. (colloquial, modal particle) Indicating that something is generally known, or cannot be changed, or the like; often untranslatable; so, just, simply, indeed

   Er ist halt ein Idiot. ― So he’s an idiot.

   Dann müssen wir halt härter arbeiten.

   Then we’ll just have to work harder.

• The word is originally southern German and is still so considered by some contemporary dictionaries. It has, however, become common throughout the language area during the past decades.

• eben

• ja

hal +‎ -t

• IPA^(key): [ˈhɒlt]
• Hyphenation: halt

halt

1. third-person singular indicative past indefinite of hal
2. past participle of hal

• IPA^(key): [hal̪ˠt̪ˠ]

halt m

1. h-prothesized form of alt

halt m (oblique and nominative feminine singular halte)

1. high; elevated

halt

1. loud; loudly

• haltement