| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| aposiopesis |
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| SYLLABICATION: | ap·o·si·o·pe·sis |
| PRONUNCIATION: |   p  -s -p  s s |
| NOUN: | Inflected forms: pl. ap·o·si·o·pe·ses (-sz)
A sudden breaking off of a thought in the middle of a sentence, as though the speaker were unwilling or unable to continue. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Late Latin aposi psis, from Greek, from aposip n, to become silent : apo-, intensive pref.; see apo– + sipn, to be silent (from sip, silence). | | OTHER FORMS: | apo·sio·petic (-p tk) —ADJECTIVE
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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