halt

verb

1. (intransitive, obsolete)To limp; move with a limping gait.

   “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.”

   “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, obsolete)To stand in doubt whether to proceed, or what to do; hesitate; be uncertain; linger; delay; mammer.

   “How long halt ye between two opinions?”

3. (intransitive, obsolete)To be lame, faulty, or defective, as in connection with ideas, or in measure, or in versification.
4. (obsolete)To waver.
5. (obsolete)To falter.
6. (intransitive, obsolete)To stop marching.
7. (intransitive, obsolete)To stop either temporarily or permanently.

   “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.”

8. (obsolete, transitive)To bring to a stop.
9. (obsolete, transitive)To cause to discontinue.

   “The contract negotiations halted operations for at least a week.”

noun

1. (obsolete)A cessation, either temporary or permanent.

   “The contract negotiations put a halt to operations.”

   “Without any halt they marched.”

   “Because most diesel failures can be traced to electrical faults, minor in themselves but often difficult to pin-point, any unscheduled halt during a trial run is often the signal for the frenzied unfolding of wiring diagrams and the appearance of an impressive array of voltmeters and circuit testers.”

2. (obsolete)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.”

   “The highest point on the line is at milepost 21¾, 367 ft. above sea level. Here there is a halt named Kilmakerrill, after which the line descends to Manorhamilton (24¾ miles).”

   “On once more we swung, bumping uneasily along in the antique narrow-gauge coach, with gloomy woods and gathering night outside, shouts and songs (and quacks) inside—this was not at all the sort of train ordained by the logical strategists in Paris—then grinding to a stop at a mysterious halt which was no more than a nameboard in the pinewoods, without even a footpath leading to it, but nevertheless with a solitary passenger stolidly waiting.”

3. (dated, obsolete)Lameness; a limp.
4. (British, Ireland, obsolete)A small railroad station, usually unstaffed or with very few staff, and with few or no facilities.

   “Halts were normally unstaffed, tickets being sold on the train.”

5. (abbreviation, acronym, alt-of, uncountable)Acronym of hungry, angry, lonely, (or) tired.

adj

1. (archaic, obsolete)Lame, limping.

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

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