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1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost., London: [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker; nd by Robert Boulter; nd Matthias Walker,, →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books:, London: Basil Montagu Pickering, 1873, →OCLC:
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![…]What about the kid's clothes? I don't suppose they were anything to write home about, but didn't you keep anything? A bootee or a bit of embroidery or anything at all?’
2020 April 8, “Network News: COVID-19: Questions and Answers”, in Rail, page 11:
Will this affect HS2 and other major projects? [...] Work at the majority of sites has paused, although some staff may be present to ensure the safety and security of these sites and to make safety assessments. [...]
(intransitive) To hesitate; to hold back; to delay.
c.1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :
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.
A short time for relaxing and doing something else.
a.1705 (date written), [John Locke], “[An Essay for the Understanding of St. Paul’s Epistles,]”, in A Paraphrase and Notes on the Epistles of St. Paul, London: J H for Awnsham and John Churchill,, published 1707, →OCLC, page xxiii:
He [Paul] is full of the Matter he treats and writes with Warmth, which uſually neglects Method, and thoſe Partitions and Pauſes which Men educated in the Schools of Rhetoricians uſually obſerve.
(slang, sometimes offensive)Used immediately after a statement to indicate that there was no innuendo or homosexual meaning intended, especially when such a meaning is a reasonable interpretation.