Definition of "moratorium" []

• Law An authorization to a debtor, such as a bank or nation, permitting temporary suspension of payments. (noun)
• Law An authorized period of delay in the performance of an obligation. (noun)
• A suspension of an ongoing or planned activity: a moratorium on the deployment of a new weapon. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Greenbury says the moratorium is a welcome breather in an industry that has moved very fast for 30 years."
• "Rather, the idea behind such a moratorium is a simple one: one does not send in the crime scene investigators while the fire is in progress -- one sends in the fire department."
• "Just consider Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal's recent tirade in which he called the moratorium an "economic calamity" that has jeopardized thousands of jobs."