suspension

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun The act of suspending or the condition of being suspended, especially.
• noun An interruption or temporary cessation, as of an activity or of the application of a rule or law. synonym: pause.
• noun A temporary prohibition or exclusion, as from attending school or enjoying a privilege, especially as a punishment.
• noun A postponement, as of a judgment, opinion, or decision.
• noun The prolongation of one or more tones of a chord into a following chord to create a temporary dissonance.
• noun The tone or tones so prolonged.
• noun A device from which a mechanical part is suspended.
• noun The system of springs and other devices that insulates the chassis of a vehicle from shocks transmitted through the wheels.
• noun Chemistry A system in which minute particles are dispersed throughout a fluid from which they are easily filtered but not easily settled because of system viscosity or molecular interactions.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun A fluid, containing bacteria or other cells, distributed in a more or loss even manner.
• noun The act of suspending, or the state of being suspended; the act or state of hanging from a support; hence, the state of being held up or kept in any way from falling or sinking, as in a liquid.
• noun The act of suspending, or delaying, interrupting, ceasing, or stopping for a time; the state of being delayed, interrupted, etc.
• noun The act of refraining from decision, determination, sentence, execution, or the like: as, a suspension of judgment or opinion.
• noun The act of causing the operation or effect of something to cease for a time: as, the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act.
• noun The act of ceasing to pay debts or claims on account of financial inability; business failure: as, the suspension of a bank or commercial house.
• noun Temporary deprivation of office, power, prerogative, or any other privilege: as, the suspension of an officer or of a clergyman.
• noun In law: The temporary stop of a man's right, as when a seigniory, rent, or other profit out of land lies dormant for a time, by reason of the unity of possession of the seigniory, rent, etc., and of the land out of which they issue.
• noun In Scots law, a process in the supreme civil or criminal court by which execution or diligence on a sentence or decree is stayed until the judgment of the supreme court is obtained on the point.
• noun That which is suspended or hung up, or that which is held up, as in a liquid.
• noun The act of keeping a person in suspense or doubt.
• noun In music: The act, process, or result of prolonging or sustaining a tone in one chord into a following chord, in which at first it is a dissonance, but into which it is immediately merged by a conjunct progression upward or downward.
• noun The tone thus suspended.
• noun In a vehicle, any method of supporting the body clear of the axles, as by springs, side-bars, or straps.
• noun Bankruptcy, etc. See failure.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun The act of suspending, or the state of being suspended; pendency.
• noun Especially, temporary delay, interruption, or cessation.
• noun Of labor, study, pain, etc.
• noun Of decision, determination, judgment, etc..
• noun Of the payment of what is due.
• noun Of punishment, or sentence of punishment.
• noun Of a person in respect of the exercise of his office, powers, prerogative, etc..
• noun Of the action or execution of law, etc..
• noun A conditional withholding, interruption, or delay.
• noun The state of a solid when its particles are mixed with, but undissolved in, a fluid, and are capable of separation by straining; also, any substance in this state.
• noun (Rhet.) A keeping of the hearer in doubt and in attentive expectation of what is to follow, or of what is to be the inference or conclusion from the arguments or observations employed.
• noun (Scots Law) A stay or postponement of execution of a sentence condemnatory by means of letters of suspension granted on application to the lord ordinary.
• noun (Mus.) The prolongation of one or more tones of a chord into the chord which follows, thus producing a momentary discord, suspending the concord which the ear expects. Cf. Retardation.
• noun (Law) pleas which temporarily abate or suspend a suit.
• noun (Mech.) the points, as in the axis or beam of a balance, at which the weights act, or from which they are suspended.
• noun a bridge supported by chains, ropes, or wires, which usually pass over high piers or columns at each end, and are secured in the ground beyond.
• noun (Mil.) a short truce or cessation of operations agreed on by the commanders of contending armies, as for burying the dead, making proposal for surrender or for peace, etc.
• noun a scale in which the platform hangs suspended from the weighing apparatus instead of resting upon it.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun The act of suspending, or the state of being suspended.
• noun A temporary or conditional delay, interruption or discontinuation.
• noun The state of a solid or substance produced when its particles are mixed with, but not dissolved in, a fluid, and are capable of separation by straining.
• noun The act of keeping a person who is listening in doubt and expectation of what is to follow.
• noun The system of springs and shock absorbers connected to the wheels in an automobile or car, which allow the vehicle to move smoothly with reduced shock to its occupants.
• noun A stay or postponement of the execution of a sentence, usually by letters of suspension granted on application to the lord ordinary.
• noun music The act of or discord produced by prolonging one or more tones of a chord into the chord which follows, thus producing a momentary discord, suspending the concord which the ear expects.