What does "suspension" mean?
The act of suspending, or the state of being suspended.
Suspension
/səˈspɛnʃən/ noun
noun ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: The act of suspending, or the state of being suspended.
- Grammar: suspension is listed as noun.
- Nearest alternatives: interruption, pause, intermission, suspension system.
- Useful contrasts: dissolved solute in water, colloid, completion.
- Usage evidence: The suspension bridge is miles above.
How to use "suspension"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "suspension" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "suspension" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "suspension" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "suspension" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "suspension" is acting as noun in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "interruption" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "suspension", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The act of suspending, or the state of being suspended. countable, uncountable
"suspension from a hook"
- 2 a temporary debarment (from a privilege or position etc.) wordnet
- 3 A temporary or conditional delay, interruption or discontinuation. countable, uncountable
"Fear of dioxin emissions led to suspension of efforts to establish a waste-to-energy plant at the Brooklyn Navy yard."
- 4 the act of suspending something (hanging it from above so it moves freely) wordnet
- 5 The state of a solid or substance produced when its particles are mixed with, but not dissolved in, a fluid, and are capable of separation by straining. countable, uncountable
"As the solids clump together, they get heavier causing them to fall out of suspension in the water."
Show 14 more definitions
- 6 a mechanical system of springs or shock absorbers connecting the wheels and axles to the chassis of a wheeled vehicle wordnet
- 7 Thus a kind of silt or sludge. countable, uncountable
- 8 an interruption in the intensity or amount of something wordnet
- 9 The act of keeping a person who is listening in doubt and expectation of what is to follow. countable, uncountable
- 10 temporary cessation or suspension wordnet
- 11 The temporary barring of a person from a workplace, society, etc. pending investigation into alleged misconduct. countable, uncountable
- 12 a mixture in which fine particles are suspended in a fluid where they are supported by buoyancy wordnet
- 13 The process of barring a student from school grounds as a form of punishment (particularly out-of-school suspension). countable, uncountable
"suspension from school as a disciplinary measure"
- 14 a time interval during which there is a temporary cessation of something wordnet
- 15 The act of or discord produced by prolonging one or more tones of a chord into the chord which follows, thus producing a momentary discord, suspending the concord which the ear expects. countable, uncountable
"As in Sequenza IV, the suspension of the chord creates several different layers of activity, which can be understood by looking at the right hand’s chord in bar two."
- 16 A stay or postponement of the execution of a sentence, usually by letters of suspension granted on application to the Lord Ordinary. countable, uncountable
- 17 A topological space derived from another by taking the product of the original space with an interval and collapsing each end of the product to a point. countable, uncountable
"To get an intuitive feeling for the characteristics of H'-spaces, it is instructive to consider an important class of such spaces, the suspensions. The suspension of an arbitrary topological space Y is defined to be the quotient space of Y#92;timesI where Y#92;times 0 is identified to one point and Y#92;times 1 is identified to another point. For example, the suspension of a circle is a cylinder with the two ends collapsed into one point each; in other words, a space homeomorphic to a sphere."
- 18 A function derived, in a standard way, from another, such that the instant function’s domain and codomain are suspensions of the original function’s. countable, uncountable
"A model category is called pointed if the initial object and terminal object are the same. The homotopy category of any pointed model category acquires a suspension functor denoted by #92;Sigma. It turns out that #92;text#123;Ho#125;(M) is a pre-triangulated category in a natural way[…]. When the suspension is an equivalence, M is called a stable model category, and in this case #92;text#123;Ho#125;(M) becomes a triangulated category[…]."
- 19 The system of springs and shock absorbers connected to the wheels in an automobile, which allows the vehicle to move smoothly with reduced shock to its occupants. countable, uncountable
"If you drive over a speed bump, the left and right tires push the suspension upward at the same time."
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
Example
"The suspension bridge is miles above."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "suspension"?
Common synonyms include: interruption, pause, intermission, suspension system, abandonment, abatement.
How do you use "suspension" in a sentence?
The suspension bridge is miles above.
How do you pronounce "suspension"?
Pronounced /səˈspɛnʃən/.
Etymology
Borrowed from Late Latin suspensiōnem (“arching, vaulting; suspension”), from suspendēre (“to hang up, to suspend”), from sub- (“under”) + pendere (“to hang, to suspend”), from Proto-Italic *pendō (“to hang, to put in a hanging position”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pénd-e-ti, from *(s)pend- (“to pull; to spin”)). Compare Anglo-Norman suspensiun, French suspension, Occitan suspensio.