Guide 48 / 200 6 swaps Formal register
Professional words for “stop”
Six verbs that specify how the stopping happened.
i · When it mattersTwo lines, no filler
"Stop" is binary. Reports and incident write-ups want verbs that describe mechanism — halted, suspended, terminated, curtailed.
ii · The swaps6 ways
- 01Halt formal
bring to an immediate stop
Halted deploys during the outage.
- 02Suspend formal
stop temporarily
Suspended the API while we investigated.
- 03Terminate formal
end permanently, often by decision
Terminated the contract at year-end.
- 04Cease formal
ongoing activity ending
Operations ceased in 2023.
- 05Curtail formal
cut back rather than end
Curtailed marketing spend by 30%.
- 06Discontinue formal
stop offering or doing
Discontinued the legacy plan.