Fortunately Bob stopped short of hitting Tom.
•The boss criticized Jane's work but stopped short of firing her.
•Jack was furious but stopped short of hitting Tom.
Dictionary of American idioms. 2013.
stop short of (doing something) — 1. to decide not to do something. I stopped short of telling him what I really felt about him. 2. to almost do something, or partly do something without completing it. The punishments are quite severe but they stop short of losing your job. Usage … New idioms dictionary
stop short of (doing) something — phrase to not do something, although you almost do it I stopped short of telling him what I really thought. Thesaurus: to not act, or to not do somethingsynonym Main entry: stop … Useful english dictionary
stop short of doing something — stop short of (something/doing something) to decide not to do something. I stopped short of telling him what I really felt about him … New idioms dictionary
stop short of something doing something — stop short of sth/of doing sth idiom to be unwilling to do sth because it may involve a risk, but to nearly do it • She stopped short of calling the president a liar. • The protest stopped short of a violent confrontation. Main entry: ↑stopidiom … Useful english dictionary
stop short of something — stop short of (something/doing something) to decide not to do something. I stopped short of telling him what I really felt about him … New idioms dictionary
stop short of — (something/doing something) to decide not to do something. I stopped short of telling him what I really felt about him … New idioms dictionary
stop short of of doing something — stop short of sth/of doing sth idiom to be unwilling to do sth because it may involve a risk, but to nearly do it • She stopped short of calling the president a liar. • The protest stopped short of a violent confrontation. Main entry: ↑stopidiom … Useful english dictionary
stop — stop1 W1S1 [stɔp US sta:p] v past tense and past participle stopped present participle stopping ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ 1¦(not move)¦ 2¦(not continue)¦ 3¦(pause)¦ 4¦(prevent)¦ 5¦(stay)¦ 6 will/would stop at nothing (to do something) 7 stop short of (doing)… … Dictionary of contemporary English
stop — stop1 [ stap ] verb *** ▸ 1 prevent something ▸ 2 no longer do something ▸ 3 no longer move ▸ 4 (make) work no longer ▸ 5 stay at someone s house ▸ 6 block pipe/hole etc. ▸ 1 no longer do something ▸ + PHRASES 1. ) transitive to prevent someone… … Usage of the words and phrases in modern English
stop — I UK [stɒp] / US [stɑp] verb Word forms stop : present tense I/you/we/they stop he/she/it stops present participle stopping past tense stopped past participle stopped *** Get it right: stop: When you want to say that someone is no longer doing… … English dictionary
stop (dead) in (your) tracks — to suddenly stop moving or doing something. When I heard the loud scream, I stopped dead in my tracks. Usage notes: often used in the forms stop someone (dead) in their tracks or stop something (dead) in its tracks: The memo was supposed to stop… … New idioms dictionary
