Pause
Pause noun - A state or an instance of temporary inaction because of uncertainty about the right course of action.
Usage example: the question caught the professor off guard, and there was a pause before he responded
Waiting and pause are semantically related In some cases you can use "Waiting" instead a noun "Pause".
Both words in one sentence
- After a tense pause of about a second, Bowser taunts Mario from the safety of his flying clown copter, which was apparently waiting below the whole time.
Source: Suicidal Gotcha -
The Reapers pause momentarily in confusion, and question one another on if Batgirl is magic or not, before the Teen Titans burst to the rescue, having been waiting for the signal to come charging in.
- Worse, some of the sites that don't cache, if you pause the video in order to wait for it to catch up, terminate the connection for waiting too long.
Source: Analysis / Web Video
Cite this Source
Waiting and Pause. (2016). Retrieved 2026, August 02, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/pause/waiting
Pause & Waiting. N.p., 2016. Web. 02 Aug. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/pause/waiting>.
Waiting or Pause. 2016. Accessed August 02, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/pause/waiting.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "pause" and "waiting" have occurred on timeline