(bridge) a playing card with a value sufficiently high to insure taking a trick in a particular suit; "if my partner has a spade stopper I can bid no trump"
close or secure with or as if with a stopper; "She stoppered the wine bottle"; "The mothers stoppered their babies' mouths with pacifiers"
any of various more-or-less horizontal spars or poles used to extend the foot of a sail or for handling cargo or in mooring
a pole carrying an overhead microphone projected over a film or tv set
a deep prolonged loud noise
a sudden happening that brings good fortune (as a sudden opportunity to make money); "the demand for testing has created a boom for those unregulated laboratories where boxes of specimen jars are processed like an assembly line"
a state of economic prosperity
grow stronger; "The economy was booming"
make a deep hollow sound; "Her voice booms out the words of the song"
make a resonant sound, like artillery; "His deep voice boomed through the hall"
shut out from view or get in the way so as to hide from sight; "The thick curtain blocked the action on the stage"; "The trees obstruct my view of the mountains"
hinder or prevent the progress or accomplishment of; "His brother blocked him at every turn"
(physics) the force of attraction between all masses in the universe; especially the attraction of the earth's mass for bodies near its surface; "the more remote the body the less the gravity"; "the gravitation between two bodies is proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them"; "gravitation cannot be held responsible for people falling in love"--Albert Einstein
(orthopedics) the act of pulling on a bone or limb (as in a fracture) to relieve pressure or align parts in a special way during healing; "his leg was in traction for several days"
prevent from doing something or being in a certain state; "We must prevent the cancer from spreading"; "His snoring kept me from falling asleep"; "Keep the child from eating the marbles"
keep from happening or arising; make impossible; "My sense of tact forbids an honest answer"; "Your role in the projects precludes your involvement in the competitive project"