SG Heritage Dictionary

Suspense [Adjective] Webster's Dictionary 1828

suspens'. Held from proceeding. [Little used.]

Suspense [Noun] Webster's Dictionary 1828

1. suspens'. [Latin suspensus.] A state of uncertainty; indetermination; indecision. A man's mind is in suspense when it is balancing the weight of different arguments or considerations, or when it is uncertain respecting facts unknown, or events not in his own power.

2. Ten days the prophet in suspense remain'd.

3. Stop; cessation for a time.

4. A cool suspense from pleasure or from pain.

5. In law, suspension; a temporary cessation of a man's right; as when the rent or other profits of land cease by unity of possession of land and rent.

Suspense [Adjective] Webster's Dictionary 1913

1. Held or lifted up; held or prevented from proceeding.

2. Expressing, or proceeding from, suspense or doubt.

3. The state of being suspended; specifically, a state of uncertainty and expectation, with anxiety or apprehension; indetermination; indecision; as, the suspense of a person waiting for the verdict of a jury.

4. Cessation for a time; stop; pause.

5. A temporary cessation of one's right; suspension, as when the rent or other profits of land cease by unity of possession of land and rent.

Suspensely [Adverb] Webster's Dictionary 1913

In suspense.

Cessation Roget’s Thesaurus §142

N. cessation, discontinuance, desistance, desinence, intermission, remission, suspense, suspension, interruption, stop, stopping, closure, stoppage, halt, arrival, pause, rest, lull, respite, truce, drop, interregnum, abeyance, cloture, dead stop, dead stand, dead lock, finis, cerrado, blowout, burnout, meltdown, disintegration, comma, colon, semicolon, period, full stop, end, death

V. cease, discontinue, desist, stay, halt, break off, leave off, hold, stop, pull up, stop short, stick, hang fire, halt, pause, rest, burn out, blow out, melt down, have done with, give over, surcease, shut up shop, give up, hold one's hand, stay one's hand, rest on one's oars repose on one's laurels, come to a stand, come to a standstill, come to a deadlock, come to a full stop, arrive, go out, die away, wear away, wear off, pass away, be at an end, disintegrate, self-destruct, intromit, interrupt, suspend, interpel, intermit, remit, put an end to, put a stop to, put a period to, derail, turn off, switch off, power down, deactivate, disconnect, bring to a stand, bring to a standstill, stop, cut short, arrest, stem the tide, stem the torrent, pull the check- string, pull the plug on

Int. hold, stop, enough, avast, have done, a truce to, soft, leave off, tenez, phr, "i pause for a reply"

Uncertainty Roget’s Thesaurus §475

N. uncertainty, incertitude, doubt, doubtfulness, dubiety, dubitation, dubitancy|, dubitousness, hesitation, suspense, perplexity, embarrassment, dilemma, bewilderment, timidity, vacillation, diaporesis, indetermination, vagueness, haze, fog, obscurity, ambiguity, contingency, dependence, dependency, double contingency, possibility upon a possibility, open question, onus probandi, blind bargain, pig in a poke, leap in the dark, something or other, needle in a haystack, needle in a bottle of hay, roving commission, precariousness, fallibility

V. be uncertain, wonder whether, lose the clue, lose the clew, scent, miss one's way, not know what to make of, not know which way to turn, not know whether one stands on one's head or one's heels, float in a sea of doubt, hesitate, flounder, lose oneself, lose one's head, muddle one's brains, render uncertain, put out, pose, puzzle, perplex, embarrass, confuse, confound, bewilder, bother, molder, addle the wits, throw off the scent, ambiguas in vulgus spargere voces, keep in suspense, doubt, hang in the balance, tremble in the balance, depend

Adj. uncertain, casual, random, changeable, doubtful, dubious, indecisive, unsettled, undecided, undetermined, in suspense, open to discussion, controvertible, in question, vague, indeterminate, indefinite, ambiguous, equivocal, undefined, undefinable, confused, mystic, oracular, dazed, perplexing, enigmatic, paradoxical, apocryphal, problematical, hypothetical, experimental, unpredictable, unforeseeable (unknowable) 519, fallible, questionable, precarious, slippery, ticklish, debatable, disputable, unreliable, untrustworthy, contingent, contingent on, dependent on, subject to, dependent on circumstances, occasional, provisional, unauthentic, unauthenticated, unauthoritative, unascertained, unconfirmed, undemonstrated, untold, uncounted, in a state of uncertainty, in a cloud, in a maze, bushed, off the track, ignorant, &c. 491, afraid to say, out of one's reckoning, astray, adrift, at sea, at fault, at a loss, at one's wit's end, at a nonplus, puzzled, lost, abroad, dsorient, distracted, distraught

Adv. pendente lite, sub spe rati

Phr. heaven knows, who can tell? who shall decide when doctors disagree? ambiguas in vulgum spargere voces

Expectation Roget’s Thesaurus §507

N. expectation, expectance, expectancy, anticipation, reckoning, calculation, foresight, contemplation, prospection, lookout, prospect, perspective, horizon, vista, destiny, suspense, waiting, abeyance, curiosity, anxious expectation, ardent expectation, eager expectation, breathless expectation, sanguine expectation, torment of tantalus, hope, trust, auspices, assurance, confidence, presumption, reliance

V. expect, look for, look out for, look forward to, hope for, anticipate, have in prospect, have in contemplation, keep in view, contemplate, promise oneself, not wonder at, not wonder if, wait for, tarry for, lie in wait for, watch for, bargain for, keep a good lookout for, keep a sharp lookout for, await, stand at "attention," abide, bide one's time, watch, foresee, prepare for, forestall, count upon, think likely, lead one to expect, have in store for, prick up one's ears, hold one's breath

Adj. expectant, expecting, in expectation, on the watch, open-eyed, open-mouthed, in wide-eyed anticipation, agape, gaping, all agog, on tenterhooks, on tiptoe, on the tiptoe of expectation, aux aguets, ready, curious, looking forward to, expected, long expected, foreseen, in prospect, prospective, in one's eye, in one's view, in the horizon, on the horizon, just over the horizon, just around the corner, around the corner, impending

Adv. on the watch, with breathless expectation, with bated breath, with rapt anticipation, arrectis auribus

Phr. we shall see, nous verrons, "expectation whirls me round", the light at the end of the tunnel

Irresolution Roget’s Thesaurus §605

N. irresolution, infirmity of purpose, indecision, indetermination, undetermination|, unsettlement, uncertainty, demur, suspense, hesitating, hesitation, hesitancy, vacillation, changeableness, fluctuation, alternation, caprice, fickleness, levity, legerete, pliancy, weakness, timidity, cowardice, half measures, waverer, ass between two bundles of hay, shuttlecock, butterfly, wimp, doughface

V. be irresolute, hang in suspense, keep in suspense, leave "ad referendum", think twice about, pause, dawdle, remain neuter, dillydally, hesitate, boggle, hover, dacker, hum and haw, demur, not know one's own mind, debate, balance, dally with, coquet with, will and will not, chaser-balancer, go halfway, compromise, make a compromise, be thrown off one's balance, stagger like a drunken man, be afraid, "let 'i dare not' wait upon 'i would'", falter, waver vacillate, change, retract, fluctuate, pendulate, alternate, keep off and on, play fast and loose, blow hot and cold, shuffle, palter, blink, trim

Adj. irresolute, infirm of purpose, double-minded, half-hearted, undecided, unresolved, undetermined, shilly-shally, fidgety, tremulous, hesitating, off one's balance, at a loss, vacillating, unsteady, unsteadfast, fickle, without ballast, capricious, volatile, frothy, light, lightsome, light-minded, giddy, fast and loose, weak, feeble-minded, frail, timid, wimpish, wimpy, cowardly, dough-faced, facile, pliant, unable to say "no", easy-going, revocable, reversible

Adv. irresolutely, irresolved, irresolvedly, in faltering accents, off and on, from pillar to post, seesaw

Int. "how happy could i be with either!"