suspended

Suspended is the past participle and adjective of suspend. It commonly refers to something temporarily halted or delayed, or to something hung from above or supported by a suspending device. The exact sense depends on context.

In legal and administrative contexts, a suspension is a temporary deprivation of a right, privilege, or position. Examples include school suspensions, disciplinary suspensions from employment, or temporary halts of licenses or certifications. Suspensions are usually time-bound and may require compliance or due process for reinstatement.

In physical contexts, something suspended is hung or supported from above by a cable, chain, or similar support. The term is used for suspended loads, suspension systems in vehicles, or suspended structures such as bridges that rely on cables or chains to bear weight.

In chemistry and materials science, a suspension is a heterogeneous mixture in which solid particles are dispersed in a liquid or gas but are not dissolved. The particles are typically large enough to settle over time; agitation or stabilizers may be used, and separation can be achieved by sedimentation, centrifugation, or filtration.

In computing, suspend refers to pausing or temporarily halting a process or device, as in suspending a program, a thread, or a computer system. Suspended tasks can be resumed later; in operating systems, Ctrl+Z on some environments suspends a foreground process.

In music, suspended chords, often written sus2 or sus4, replace the third degree of a chord with a suspended note, creating a characteristic unresolved sound.