Aposiopesis

A most striking example of this is where he uses the rhetorical figure called the Aposiopesis, or suppression, in displaying the head of a prostitute: he introduces it with saying, "This is the head of a woman of the town, or a------; but, whatever other title the lady may have, we are not entitled here to take notice of it."

A Lecture On Heads As Delivered By Mr. Charles Lee Lewes, To Which Is Added, An Essay On Satire, With Forty-Seven Heads By Nesbit, From Designs By Thurston, 1812 Geo. Alex. Stevens 1893

Aposiopesis (from Classical Greek, "becoming silent") is the term, by which the speaker or writer deliberately stops short and leaves something unexpressed, but yet obvious, to be supplied by the imagination, giving the impression that he/she is unwilling or unable to continue.

Aposiopesis 2007

[Sidenote: _Aposiopesis_, or the Figure of silence.]

The Arte of English Poesie George Puttenham

Aposiopesis, _or the figure of silence, otherwise called the figure of interruption.

The Arte of English Poesie George Puttenham

This is an instance of Aposiopesis; Crito, much affected, is unwilling to name the death of Chrysis.

The Comedies of Terence Literally Translated into English Prose, with Notes Terence 1847

The Aposiopesis in this line is very aptly introduced, on account of the presence of the female; but it admirably illustrates the abominable turpitude of the speaker, and perhaps in a somewhat more decent manner than that in which Plautus attributes a similar tendency to his

The Comedies of Terence Literally Translated into English Prose, with Notes Terence 1847

Aposiopesis (or breaking off); "tut! if you had done what I wished, I should have had more pleasure for my money!"

The Caxtons — Complete Edward Bulwer Lytton Lytton 1838

"Oh, Roland!" cried my mother, concluding that famous Epiphonema which my uncle's Aposiopesis had before nipped in the bud, "and yet you would have made us, who are twice as rich, rob you of this little all!"

The Caxtons — Volume 12 Edward Bulwer Lytton Lytton 1838

Aposiopesis (or breaking off); "tut! if you had done what I wished, I should have had more pleasure for my money!"

The Caxtons — Volume 12 Edward Bulwer Lytton Lytton 1838

Epiphonema which my uncle's Aposiopesis had before nipped in the bud,

The Caxtons — Complete Edward Bulwer Lytton Lytton 1838