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Glite Dictionary
to stop dead

to stop dead

12 3.9
To suddenly become completely still because you are surprised
  • phrasal verb
  • /stɑp dɛd/
  • Informal
translation icon : detenerse en seco
  • It was a cruise vehicle come down the hill, turned right and stopped dead, covering the crosswalk.
  • stop dead in their tracks

It was a cruise vehicle come down the hill, turned right and stopped dead, covering the crosswalk.

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Examples

  • Breathless, I opened the door to Peggy's room and stopped dead in my shoes.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • And then I saw the inkstand and stopped dead in my tracks, staring.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • The first out, Mom stops dead at the bottom of the steps and looks around.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • " He stood and then stopped dead in his tracks, staring at her.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • Oh, Sheeba, let me take you home, Uncle Jack says, and I stop dead in my tracks.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • When they saw Geordi's companion, they stopped dead in their tracks.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • Well, the nighthawk turned the corner and saw me and just froze, stopped dead in his tracks.

    Danny Jones

  • And the horse stopped dead in its tracks, lost and blinded by the surging, pelting rain.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • Wherever we ventured in and around the old walled city, people stopped dead in their tracks and stared.

    Academic text (2009)

  • When she heard the loud crash, she stopped dead, unable to move for a moment.

Synonyms

to freeze
vsto stop dead
244 1.6

Stop moving suddenly because of fear or surprise

emphasizes a full, immediate end of movement or action from shock
to come to a halt
vsto stop dead
  • Informal
13 3.4

Stop moving or working completely

is specifically sudden and driven by surprise or shock rather than gradual
to stop (someone) in (their) tracks
vsto stop dead
  • Informal
3 3.9

To suddenly stop moving or speaking because you are surprised

focuses on a sudden complete stop of movement or action after shock
to stop cold
vsto stop dead
  • Informal
3 5.2

Freeze and stay completely still because of surprise or fear

is used for sudden total ending of action caused by surprise or shock
to freeze like a deer in the headlights
vsto stop dead
  • Informal
7.7

Suddenly stop moving because you feel afraid or surprised

describes a complete and immediate end to movement often from shock

Antonyms

to proceed
763 3.0

Begin or continue an action after a pause, often as planned

to keep going
357 1.6

To continue doing something without stopping

How Sudden

to freeze
244 1.6
to stop dead
  • Informal
12 3.9
to halt
206 2.4
to slow down
687 1.4

Surface Forms

stop dead infinitive
stopped dead past
stopped dead past participle
stopping dead present participle
stops dead third person singular

Morphology

stop + dead

The sense 'to stop suddenly and completely' is directly compositional from 'stop' (cease movement) plus 'dead' (motionless/completely), where 'dead' functions as an intensifier meaning wholly or utterly. This is a common, cross-linguistically transparent pattern (intensifier + verb/adjective) so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

The verb stop dead comes from using dead to mean completely still. Imagine someone freezing as if they were a dead person, so to stop dead means 'to stop suddenly and completely'.