suspend, v.
(səˈspɛnd)
Also 3 sos-; 5 pa. tense and pple. suspend(e, pa. tense suspent, 5–6 (9 in sense 10 a) pa. pple. suspent.
[a. OF. sus-, sospendre or ad. its source L. suspendĕre (whence also Pr. suspendre, It. sospendere, Sp., Pg. suspender), f. sus-, sub- ad init. and 25 + pend- to hang.]
I. 1. a. trans. To debar, usually for a time, from the exercise of a function or enjoyment of a privilege; esp. to deprive (temporarily) of one's office. Const. from, † of.
| c 1290 Beket 1713 in S. Eng. Leg. 155 Þe pope him sende lettres..þat he scholde..suspendi þe bischopes þat swuch on-riȝt duden þere. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 79 Þei wolen suspenden pore prestis fro masse & prechynge & alle goddis seruyce. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VII. 5 Þis Odo suspendede kyng Edwynus of Cristendom [Higden a Christianitate suspendit], for he was to fervent in leccherie. c 1440 Alphabet of Tales 460 A bisshopp þat suspent a certan preste in his dioces..þis is þe bisshopp þat tuke fro vs our preste & suspend hym. c 1450 Mirk's Festial 236 He suspendyt hom of hor pouer þat þay haddyn in Cristys creatures. 1534 tr. Constit. Otho in Lyndewode Constit. 114 That they be suspended both from offyce and also benefyce. 1586–7 Reg. Privy Council Scot. IV. 143 His Hienes and the saidis Lordis hes suspendit..the saidis Maisteris Balcanquell and Williame Watsoun of all..preiching of the Worde. a 1628 Preston Saints Daily Exerc. (1629) 128 They are suspended from receiving the benefit by it. 1687 Wood Life 31 May (O.H.S.) III. 221 The vice-chancellor of Cambridge suspended this month for not admitting father Francis M.A. 1693 Ibid. 12 Oct. 432 The society suspended him of his vote. 1699 Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) IV. 535 Captain Kirk..is suspended his commission in the earl of Oxfords regiment. 1743–4 in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. i. 212, I do hereby suspend you from all further Authority in His Majty's Fleet, till His Majty's Pleasure shall be known. 1877 Froude Short Stud. (1883) IV. i. ix. 96 The king had been obliged to suspend the sheriffs in several counties. 1881 Gladstone Sp. in Ho. Comm. 3 Feb., It becomes my duty to make a Motion for the suspension of the following Members... I have to move that they be severally suspended from the service of the House during the remainder of the day's Sitting. |
| refl. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 362 Ȝif þei wolden suspende hemsilf fro alle þingis but Goddis lawe. |
† b. To debar temporarily from participation in something, presence in a place, etc. Obs.
| c 1400 Rule St. Benet (verse) 1258 Sche salbe suspend fro þe kirk, Fro mete, & fro al company. c 1450 Lydg. & Burgh Secrees 2240 Yif he thus offende, Oute of thy presence hym vttirly suspende. |
2. a. To put a stop to, usually for a time; esp. to bring to a (temporary) stop; to intermit the use or exercise of, put in abeyance. Chiefly in pass. without implication of a definite agent.
to suspend payment: to cease paying debts or claims on account of financial inability; to become insolvent.
| c 1290 Beket 856 in S. Eng. Leg. 131 Þo seide þe bischop of wynchestre: ‘sire gilbert, beo stille! We sospendiez swuch conseil, for it nis nouȝt wurth a fille.’ c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 356 Prove he his power bi þis lesse, and suspende assoiling of moneie. 1529 More Suppl. of Soulys Wks. 326/1 Though he suffer his mercy to be commonly suspended and tempered with the balaunce of his iustice. 1540 Act 32 Hen. VIII, c. 48 §1 The same rentis by longe tymes shalbe suspendid and not due to be paid. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 165 The Emperour doeth suspende all suites and actions in the lawe commenced againste the Protestauntes. 1564 Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 287 The Lordis of Secreit Counsall suspendis the said Robert Lord Sempillis commissioun abonewrittin. 1602 Warner Alb. Eng. Epit. (1612) 355 The Gouernment of the naturall Brittish Kings..was for many yeeres suspended. 1654 Bramhall Just Vind. ii. (1661) 16 External actual communion may sometimes be suspended..by the just censures of the Church. 1707 Curios. Husb. & Gard. 259 The Course of the nourishing Juice being suspended and turn'd aside. 1751 Johnson Rambler No. 187 ¶5 By dividing his time between the chace and fishery, [he] suspended the miseries of absence and suspicion. 1761 Hume Hist. Eng. I. viii. 178 The king..suspended the payment of Peter's pence. 1777 Priestley Matter & Sp. (1782) I. v. 56 All power of thinking is suspended during a swoon. 1856 Sir B. Brodie Psychol. Inq. I. iv. 138 We may by a powerful effort suspend the action of the respiratory muscles during a limited time. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. xxvii. 217 A motion which seems not to be suspended even in the depth of winter. 1863 H. Cox Instit. ii. xi. 575 The end of a Prize Court is,—to suspend the property which is the subject of prize, till condemnation. 1883 Manch. Exam. 29 Oct. 5/4 The firm had to suspend payment, not from any fault of their own, but from their connection with another firm. 1885 Law Times LXXX. 111/1 The right of the railway company to suspend the ordinary service of trains on occasions of..exceptional pressure. 1902 W. W. Jacobs At Sunwich Port i. 5 My [master's] certificate has been suspended for six months. |
b. To stop or check the action or movement of (something) temporarily; to hold in suspense; † to hold back from.
| c 1450 Godstow Reg. 94 All other every dayes hit shold be lawful to syng j masse with a lowe voyce, and the belle suspended. 1565 Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 413 Thair Hienessis is contentit..to suspend thair handis fra all geving. 1569 T. Underdown Ovid's Invect. Ibis F iiij, As sone as he sawe his chylde lye before him, he draue on the one syde, and suspended hys plough, and so passed without harme to the chylde. 1643 Milton Divorce vii. Wks. 1851 IV. 36 Nothing more then disturbance of mind suspends us from approaching God. 1710 Shaftesbury Charac. (1737) I. ii. ii. 257 The Sublime can no way..bear to be suspended in its impetuous Course. c 1750 Collins On Distant View Richmond Ch. iv, Remembrance oft shall haunt the shore..And oft suspend the dashing oar To bid his gentle spirit rest! 1753 A. Murphy Gray's Inn Jrnl. No. 33 Both their Sensations being too big for Utterance, their Tongues were suspended. 1836 Landor Pericles & Aspasia Wks. 1846 II. 373 There is a gloom in deep love as in deep water. There is a silence in it which suspends the foot. |
† c. spec. To put a stop to or interdict the use of (a place of worship), esp. temporarily; hence, to profane. Obs.
| c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 69 Þei wolen suffre..a chirche or a chirche ȝerde suspendid & no masse seyd þer-inne. a 1500 Bale's Chron. in Six Town Chron. (1911) 120 The first day of July powles chirch was suspent and the v day folowyng halowed ageyn. 1535 Coverdale 2 Kings xxiii. 8 He..suspended y⊇ hye places, where the prestes brent incense. ― Acts xxiv. 6 We haue founde this man..a sterer vp of sedicion..& hath taken in hande also to suspende the temple. 1548 Udall Erasm. Par. Acts x. 38 b, Hytherto neuer eate I anye meate that was suspended, or vncleane [orig. quicquid profanum aut impurum]. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 294 His chaplaines before they wold saye any seruice in their churches,..hallowed them againe..as suspended and polluted with Lutheranisme. 1561 in Maitl. Club Misc. III. 270 Ye Lady College Kyrk..is decernit and suspendit ane prophane hows. |
† d. gen. To put a stop to the use of, interdict; to abrogate. Obs.
| 1488 in Archaeologia XLV. 115, viij Pillowes of dyvers coloures, besides other that beth suspent & dampned for bad, as appereth in the parcellis of the suspent wares. c 1550 Rolland Crt. Venus iii. 369 The law positiue, It did suspend, and haldis as detestine. |
e. To cause (a law or the like) to be for the time no longer in force; to abrogate or make inoperative temporarily.
| 1535–6 Act 27 Hen. VIII, c. 10 §8 Provided also that this present acte..be..[not] taken to extincte release discharge or suspende any Statute [etc.]. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 183 The decree of Auspurge..he suspendeth. 1766 Blackstone Comm. ii. xviii. 273 The statutes of mortmain were suspended for twenty years by the statute 1 & 2 P. & M. c. 8. 1787 Constit. U.S. i. §9 The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when..the public safety may require it. 1842 Macaulay Ess., Fredk. Gt. (1877) 700 The authority of laws and magistrates had been suspended. 1879 Froude Cæsar v. 43 In great danger it was the Senate's business to suspend the constituion. |
f. Of an event, condition, etc.: To bring about or entail the temporary cessation of.
| 1419 26 Pol. Poems 71 Encresyng of temperalte Suspende spiritualte. 1684 Contempl. St. Man ii. iv. (1699) 159 There is no Joy.. which can suspend the Grief we suffer from a Finger that is sawing off. 1695 Blackmore Pr. Arth. iii. 587 Wonder almost suspends their Happiness. 1793 Beddoes Math. Evid. p. xiii, Pregnancy suspends consumption. 1805 Med. Jrnl. XIV. 142 When the small-pox appeared first, it did not suspend the measles. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. ii. I. 247 The agitation, which had been suspended by the late changes, speedily became more violent than ever. 1901 Electr. Rev. 27 Sept. 523/2 A breakdown of a trolley wire..temporarily suspended the service [of trams]. |
g. To cease (for a time) from the execution or performance of; to desist or refrain from, esp. temporarily. † Also absol. Now unusual.
| 1605 Shakes. Lear i. ii. 86 If it shall please you to suspend your indignation against my Brother, til you can deriue from him better testimony of his intent. 1629 H. Burton Babel no Bethel 69 All saving truthes..must vaile bonnet, and suspend, while Romes Traditions bee serued and obserued. 1715 De Foe Fam. Instruct. (1841) I. i. vii. 125 Suspend your foolish passion about the fellow. 1769 Burke Obs. Late St. Nation Wks. 1842 I. 103 They suspended violence. 1780 Cowper Nightingale & Glow-worm 3 A nightingale..Had cheer'd the village with his song, Nor yet at eve his note suspended. 1821 Scott Kenilw. xvi, Men suspended every, even the slightest, external motion. 1863 Geo. Eliot Romola i, An old woman..for the moment had suspended her wail to listen. 1876 ― Dan. Der. lviii, These thoughts, which he wanted to master and suspend. |
h. intr. for pass. To come to a stop for the time, cease temporarily, intermit. rare.
| 1650 Fuller Pisgah ii. 61 Then Jordan, whose streams hitherto suspended, returned into his channell. 1808 Med. Jrnl. XIX. 499 The apoplectic respiration now nearly suspended. 1879 S. C. Bartlett Egypt to Pal. 459 The rain suspended long enough for us to..get fairly under way. |
3. a. To put off to a later time or occasion; to defer, postpone. Obs. or merged in other senses.
| 1577 tr. Bullinger's Decades (1592) 504 It is..not known what is true, and so the sentence definitiue is suspended. 1581 in Digges Complete Ambass. (1655) 388 Her M. suspendeth all resolute answers, till she hear from you. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. i. i. 4 So hath he reserved many things unto his owne resolution, whose determinations..we..must with reverence suspend unto that great day. 1648 Gage West Ind. 202 The old Fryer..thought every day a year that I stayed there, and suspended my Voyage for England. a 1700 Evelyn Diary 18 June 1683, He would certainly enter judgment against them, which hitherto he had suspended. 1742 West Let. in Gray's Poems (1775) 142 Till that first act is over, every body suspends his vote. 1793 Gouv. Morris in Sparks Life & Writ. (1832) II. 277 Britain will suspend her blow till she can strike very hard. |
Const. inf. (or gerund).
| 1566 Abp. Parker Corr. (Parker Soc.) 262 Being informed..that..you suspended to give your furtherance until you had heard our advice. 1581 T. Howell Deuises (1879) 238 Suspend to deeme the worst,..And poyse eche poynte before you verdit giue. 1672 Earl of Essex in Essex Papers (Camden) 22 If I shall see that..they doe meritt, I will put it in execution, but if not, I will suspend doeing any thing in it. 1754 Edwards Freed. Will ii. vii. (1762) 71 There is no Medium between suspending to act, and immediately acting. |
† b. To defer dealing with; to put off consideration of; to pass over for the time; hence gen. to disregard. Obs.
| 1581 G. Pettie tr. Guazzo's Civ. Conv. i. (1586) 6, I would..a little suspend these seuerall points, and first intreate of this matter in generall. 1632 Lithgow Trav. x. 493 A Regall Commission (which partly beeing some-where obeyed, and other-where suspended). 1660 R. Ellsworth in Extr. St. Papers rel. Friends Ser. ii. (1911) 121 Their said refuseall, if suspended or conniued att, will cause a general discontent. 1765 T. Hutchinson Hist. Mass. I. ii. 293 The reason of which..it is better to suspend than too critically to inquire into. |
† c. Of an event, etc.: To defer or delay the accomplishment of. Obs.
| 1781 Gibbon Decl. & F. xxi. (1787) II. 309 The divisions of Christianity suspended the ruin of paganism. 1784 Cowper Task ii. 197 Will thy discovery of the cause Suspend th' effect, or heal it? 1807 G. Chalmers Caledonia I. ii. iii. 253 The bravest efforts of their gallant chiefs could not suspend their destiny. |
† d. intr. To be delayed. Obs.
| 1690 Child Disc. Trade (1698) 81 Before the use of money falls, which I conclude cannot long suspend. |
4. a. trans. To keep (one's judgement) undetermined; to refrain from forming (an opinion) or giving (assent) decisively.
† occas. to withhold (assent) from.
| 1553 Latimer Serm. Lord's Prayer i. (1562) 6 b, We should not be to hastye in beleuynge the tale, but rather suspende oure iudgementes till we know the truth. 1620 T. Granger Div. Logike ii. iv, In doubtfull things we suspend our assent, and iudgement. 1667 Temple Let. Wks. 1731 II. 27, I suspend my Confidence till the Arrival of my English Letters, which are my Gospel in these Cases. 1742 Col. Rec. Pennsylv. IV. 551 He must excuse us if we suspend our belief until we are better satisfied of the Truth of the Facts. 1775 Johnson Tax. no Tyr. 16 The publick voice suspends its decision. 1791 Hamilton tr. Berthollet's Dyeing I. i. iii. ii. 256 On this subject I suspend my opinion. 1885 ‘Mrs. Alexander’ At Bay i, He felt strongly disposed to believe that his new acquaintance was thoroughly a lady, though a knowledge of life in most European capitals disposed him to suspend his judgment. |
† b. absol. To suspend one's judgement, to be in doubt; hence occas. (with simple obj. or obj. cl.) to doubt; also, to apprehend, suspect. Obs.
| 1585 Queen Elizabeth in Four C. Eng. Lett. (1880) 29, I wer out of [my] sences if I shuld not suspend of any hiresay til the answer of your owne action. 1599 B. Jonson Ev. Man out of Hum. iv. iv, Pardon me, that's to be suspended, you are too quicke, too apprehensive. 1599 ― Cynthia's Rev. iv. ii, These ladies are not of that close, and open behauiour, as happily you may suspend. 1632 Lithgow Trav. vi. 248 [They] sayd, heere Diues the rich Glutton dwelt..: this I suspend. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. ii. vi. 102 Many things are..believed of other plants, wherin at least we cannot but suspend. 1656 Burton's Diary (1828) I. 141 Moses did not suspend that it was to be punished with death. His consultation with God was only about the manner. 1676 Marvell Mr. Smirke Wks. (Grosart) IV. 74 Some divines teach us to believe (though I suspend) that God Himself cannot..compel men to believing. 1749 Hartley Observ. Man i. Pref., That voluntary Power over our Affections and Actions, by which we deliberate, suspend, and choose. |
† c. To hold oneself back or refrain from doing something. Obs. rare.
| 1598 in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. i. III. 50 Wisshing us to suspend from embracing any other course in that kinde. 1675 M. Clifford Hum. Reason 17 Reason will not presently advise us to a change,..but suspend a while and attempt again. Ibid. 89, I must..stand still, that is suspend absolutely from the belief of any Religion. |
d. to suspend disbelief, to refrain from being sceptical, or from doubting the truth of something. Cf. suspension 3 b.
| 1963 Listener 28 Feb. 393/2 By the time he arrived at the cliff-hanging conclusion there was nothing for it but to suspend disbelief. 1979 Amer. N. & Q. Feb. 97/1 In suspending disbelief, poets could construct a fictitious transitional zone. |
5. † a. To keep in a state of mental fixity, attention, or contemplation; to rivet the attention of.
| 1561 T. Norton Calvin's Inst. i. 9 To geue ourselues unto such a searching out of God, as may so holde our witt suspended with admiration [etc.]. 1639 S. Du Verger tr. Camus' Admir. Events a 2, Things which delight and wonderfully suspend the minde. 1667 Milton P.L. ii. 555 The harmony..Suspended Hell, and took with ravishment The thronging audience. 1671 Woodhead St. Teresa ii. xi. 91 A Prayer of Quiet in the manner of a Spiritual sleep, which suspends the Soul so, that..we may lose much time. 1744 Akenside Pleas. Imag. i. 257 The village-matron, round the blazing hearth, Suspends the infant-audience with her tales. 1804 E. de Acton Tale without Title I. 224 She sat suspended, till recollecting the box..she started. 1812 Cary Dante, Parad. xxxii. 81 Whatsoever I had yet beheld, Had not so much suspended me with wonder [orig. Di tanta ammirazion non mi sospese]. |
b. To keep in suspense, uncertainty, or indecision. Now rare.
| 1603 B. Jonson Sejanus iv. v, Thus he leaues the Senate Diuided, and suspended, all vncertaine. 1653 H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. xiii. 39 We were all suspended into divers opinions. 1668 Dryden Even. Love Ded., She [sc. Victory] seem'd to suspend her self, and to doubt, before she took her Flight. 1719 De Foe Crusoe i. (Globe) 247 My Thoughts were a little suspended, when I had a serious Discourse with the Spaniard. 1751 Johnson Rambler No. 158 ¶13 The intent of the introduction is to raise expectation, and suspend it. 1798 Jefferson Writ. (1859) IV. 208, I am entirely suspended as to what is to be expected. c 1880 Kirkby (Yorks.) Dial., They were very curious to know the secret but I would not tell them. I suspended them for a whole year. 1962 Listener 27 Sept. 483/1 Dostoyevsky harrows and suspends his reader. |
6. Sc. Law. a. trans. To defer or stay (execution of a sentence) pending its discussion in the Supreme Court. b. intr. To present a bill of suspension: see suspension 4, and cf. suspender 3.
| 1650 Acts of Sederunt 16 Jan. (1790) 63 The decreittis, registrate bandis, and uther groundis of the letters and charges craved to be suspendit. 1698 in Sir H. Dalrymple Decisions (1792) 1 Sir John C. having charged the Earl..upon a bond of borrowed money, to pay 1000 l. Sterling, he suspended, and alleged res judicata. 1743 Kames Decis. Crt. Sess. 1730–52 (1799) 65 Begbie occasionally hearing that his decree was suspended, put up his protestation in common form. Ibid. 70 W. H., being charged for recourse, suspended upon want of due negociation. 1838 W. Bell Dict. Law Scot. s.v. Suspension, The party complaining commences proceedings by presenting a bill of suspension..his bill concludes, that the..execution in question ought to be suspended, and therefore he prays for letters of suspension. |
7. Mus. To prolong (a note of a chord) into the following chord, thus deferring the progression of the part in which it occurs, usually so as to produce a temporary discord.
| 1853 J. Smith Treat. Mus. 35 In Example (97) the diminished and minor seventh are suspended. 1867 Macfarren Harmony (1892) 69 Let us suspend every bass note as the inverted 4th of the chord that follows it. |
II. 8. a. trans. To hang, hang up, by attachment to a support above; = hang v. 1. (Often a technical or affected substitute for hang.)
| c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. iii. 832 And after monethes iij do hem suspende. 1593 Rites of Durham (Surtees 1842) 34 The iiij{supt}{suph} bell remaynes ther still and was never rounge synce yt was suspent. 1656 Blount Glossogr., Suspend.., to hang up or upon. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Suspended, a Philosophical Word for hanged up. 1719 Quincy Lex. Physico-Med. (1722), Suspended, or Appended, is said of external Remedies, which are wore about the Neck, Wrists, or the like. 1784 Cowper Task iv. 774 The most unfurnish'd with the means of life..overhead Suspend their crazy boxes, planted thick, And watered duly. 1796 J. Jordan Specif. Patent Bridges (1797) 4 My invention consists in suspending to an arch or arches,..bridges. 1820 W. Irving Sketch Bk. II. 52 (Stage Coach) Hams, tongues, and flitches of bacon, were suspended from the ceiling. 1836 Penny Cycl. VI. 178/2 A collection of pictures..for the present suspended in an apartment at the Pitt press. 1839 Keightley Hist. Eng. II. 87 Others [sc. rebels] were suspended from the boughs of the oak. 1848 Buckley Iliad ii. 293 He suspended from his shoulders his silver-studded sword. 1867 tr. C'tess Hahn-Hahn's Lives Fathers of Desert 20 The chandeliers suspended from the roof were of silver. |
| fig. 1836 J. Gilbert Chr. Atonem. ii, Punishments actually denounced, and those punishments suspended over us. |
† b. intr. = hang v. 8. Obs.
| 1597 A. M. tr. Guillemeau's Fr. Chirurg. 16/2 Because that the wounded partes may suspend & hange in the bellye. 1599 ― tr. Gabelhouer's Bk. Physicke 61/2 Let not this little cloth suspend above thre howers therin. a 1687 Villiers (Dk. Buckhm.) Epitaph upon Felton 1 Here uninter'd suspends..Felton's dead Earth. |
c. trans. To support (something hanging). rare.
| 1816 Tuckey Narr. Exped. R. Zaire iii. (1818) 99 And a silk sash..suspending a ship's cutlass, finished his costume. |
d. To attach so as to allow of movement about the point of attachment; = hang v. 2.
| 1827 Faraday Chem. Manip. xxiii. (1842) 595 It will, if freely suspended, pass beyond its position of rest to a distance on the left side. 1871 A. Meadows Man. Midwifery (ed. 2) 299 An index suspended from a cross-bar. |
9. a. fig. To cause to depend; pass. to depend. Const. on, upon (rarely from). Now rare.
| 1608 Willet Hexapla Exod. xxxiv. 820 It seemeth by the Hebrew distinction ouer Iehouah, that this word is suspended from the rest which follow, so that eel is one of the epithetes rather..then a proper name of God. 1629 Prynne Anti-Armin. 83 If our conuersion, saluation, grace, and glorie, are thus suspended on our most impotent..wills, what man can once be saued? 1653 Milton Hirelings Wks. 1851 V. 373 That the Magistrate..should take into his own Power the stipendiary maintenance of Church-ministers,..would suspend the Church wholly upon the State. 1758 Johnson Idler No. 11 ¶5 The present state of the skies and of the earth, on which plenty and famine are suspended. 1759 ― Rasselas xxviii, It is dangerous for a man and woman to suspend their fate upon each other, at a time when opinions are fixed [etc.]. 1829 I. Taylor Enthus. x. 278 That the universal prevalence of Christianity..is suspended upon the continuance of missionary zeal. 1844 R. Choate Addresses (1878) 334 The peculiarity of this election is that while it involves all the questions of mere policy which are ever suspended on the choice of a president [etc.]. |
† b. To regard as dependent, ‘make’ (a thing) depend, upon. Obs.
| 1638 Chillingw. Relig. Prot. i. ii. §69. 79 Your suspending the same [sc. salvation of a baptized infant] on the Baptizer's intention. 1797 Monthly Mag. III. 260/1 They differed from the above-mentioned theologists and philosophers in this, that the latter suspended every thing from Deity. |
10. a. To hold, or cause to be held up, without attachment; = hang v. 1 d.
| 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. ii. iii. 72 That in the Temple of Serapis there was an iron chariot suspended by Loadstones in the ayre. 1685 Boyle Enq. Notion Nat. ii. 29 That water kept suspended in a sucking Pump, is not in its natural place. 1846 Browning Luria iii. 198 The unseen sun above, Which draws and holds suspended all of us, Binds transient mists and vapours into one. 1870 R. R. Coverdale Poems 16 A cloud in western skies Suspent, or floating on its way. 1909 C. Keyser in Hibbert Jrnl. Jan. 386 The world of things that are finite is strictly an island-world suspent in a sea. |
b. To hold, or cause to be held, in suspension; to contain in the form of particles diffused through its substance, as a fluid medium; to cause to be so diffused (in the medium).
| 1737 Bracken Farriery Impr. (1757) II. 277 Spirit of Wine singly is not near so efficacious..as when it contains or Suspends some resinous Substance. 1805 W. Saunders Min. Waters 162 There is no more carbonic acid, or scarcely more, than is necessary to keep the lime suspended. 1862 Miller Elem. Chem., Org. iii. (ed. 2) 244 By suspending the compound of acetylene with subchloride of copper in a solution of ammonia. 1874 Garrod & Baxter Mat. Med. 115 Fluid Magnesia... Prepare as above, suspend in water and pass pure carbonic acid gas through it. 1880 Encycl. Brit. XIII. 81/1 Gold and silver inks are writing fluids in which gold and silver,..are suspended in a state of fine division. |