halted

Halted is the past tense and past participle of halt, used as an adjective to indicate that something has been stopped or brought to a stop. It denotes a completed action of stopping and can imply either a temporary pause or a more prolonged cessation, depending on context.

As a modifier, halted can apply to a wide range of noun phrases: halted projects, halted trains, halted negotiations, or halted medical procedures. The term often carries nuance about whether the stop was intentional, abrupt, or due to external factors, and it may imply that activity could resume.

In technology and computing, halted describes systems that have entered a halt state—execution is suspended until a defined condition occurs, such as an interrupt or a reset. The term is common in discussions of processor behavior (for example, a processor may execute a halt instruction) and in the management of devices placed in low-power or idle modes.

In broader usage, halted can also describe natural or organizational processes that have temporarily ceased under specific conditions, or events that were stopped by decision or circumstance. The word is often interchangeable with paused, suspended, or discontinued, depending on the degree and duration of cessation.

See also halt, stopping, pause, suspension.