phrasal verb · neutral

bring to a standstill

/brɪŋ tə ə ˈstændˌstɪl/bring·to·a·STAND·still

speakingtask2

to cause an activity or movement to stop completely; to render something motionless

Examples

The blackout brought the whole city to a standstill.

Traffic was brought to a standstill after the multi-car crash.

The dispute brought operations at the plant to a standstill.

Band 8 sentence

Weeks of heavy rain brought regional transport networks to a standstill, complicating relief efforts.

Collocations

  • bring to a standstill
  • brought to a standstill by

Word family

bring (v) verb

Common mistakes

bring standstillbring to a standstill

bring to standstillbring to a standstill

Say it for a higher band

5stop6paralyse7+bring to a standstill

Synonyms

paralyse

bring to a halt

Easily confused

paralyse

The strike paralysed public services in the region.

Related words

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