stop press
- noun
- Literature
:
última hora
- I got a stop-press story for you.
Examples
-
The editor added a stop press item to inform readers about the sudden change in the weather.
-
Stop press!
-
Just before the newspaper went to print, they received a stop press about the local election results.
-
The journalist rushed to include a stop press to report the breaking news about the accident.
Synonyms
87
3.4
A short news message giving immediate information
11
3.1
A short, sudden announcement about important breaking news
4
4.2
A short break on TV or radio to report important news
How Urgent
- Specialized
13
3.2
- Literature
- Literature
11
3.1
- Literature
11
2.9
- Literature
12
2.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase transparently combines 'stop' and 'press' (as in 'stop the press'), so a learner who knows both words could plausibly infer it relates to halting printing and therefore an urgent news item. However, the specific sense — a last‑minute item added before printing — depends on knowledge of newspaper/printing practice and is somewhat journalistic/idiomatic and regionally used, so the exact meaning is not fully predictable for a B1 learner.
Etymology
The noun stop press comes from old newspapers: when big news arrived, people would shout 'stop the presses' to halt the press and add the story at the last minute. So stop press now means 'an urgent late news item'.