moratorium — English Dictionary

Noun

1. An authorization to a debtor, permitting temporary suspension of payments.

2. A suspension of an ongoing activity.

   Examples

   Canada may put a moratorium on cloning for research.

   It so happened that at that time the moratorium on the death penalty caused by the Supreme Court decision in the Furman case was still in effect.

   More examples (2)

   If such a pause cannot be enacted quickly, governments should step in and institute a moratorium.

   Proponents of an AI moratorium had argued that a patchwork of state and local AI laws is hindering progress in the AI industry and the ability of U.S. firms to compete with China.

3. A period of delay granted to someone, especially an adolescent or young adult, during which they are not yet required to take on adult obligations or make permanent commitments; an extended phase of identity exploration.

Noun

1. a legally authorized postponement before some obligation must be discharged

   Broader terms

   delayholdtime lagpostponementwait

2. suspension of an ongoing activity

   Broader terms

   abeyancesuspension