noun
hiatus
high-AY-tus/haɪˈeɪtəs/
A gap or interruption in something normally continuous.
An empty stretch creates a hiatus in the otherwise continuous line of paving stones.
Etymology
Latin hiatus meant a physical opening or gap. English extended that image from a break in something material to a missing stretch in events or activity.
In context
they have a very interesting website that you can also access that is uh is on Hiatus for the winter time because nobody's really migrating
More examples
- She takes a brief hiatus from teaching.
- The negotiations resume following an unexpected hiatus.
- The magazine announces a hiatus in publication.
Forms
hiatus · hiatuses
Similar words
- pause
- Any brief stop, without necessarily interrupting an established pattern.
- interruption
- An interruption breaks continuity; hiatus often names the resulting interval.