Hanging something from above; temporarily stopping or delaying an action, process, or privilege.
From Latin 'suspendere', from 'sub-' (under) + 'pendere' (to hang). Originally meant to hang up physically, later extended to mean temporary cessation or postponement in the 16th century.
The dual meaning of physically hanging and temporarily halting creates powerful metaphors - we speak of suspended animation, suspended disbelief, and suspended sentences, all evoking this sense of something caught between states.
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