traffic stop

noun

plural traffic stops
: an instance of police stopping a driver (as for speeding or a broken taillight)
She was pulled over for a routine traffic stop.
an officer making a traffic stop

Examples of traffic stop in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Newly released footage of an officer tackling an 18-year-old Black woman to the ground and punching her in the head after a traffic stop in Arkansas is causing anger and demands for a use-of-force investigation. — Mark Osborne, CBS News, 11 Aug. 2026 The poll, commissioned by the Vera Institute of Justice, a nonprofit working to end mass incarceration, was conducted shortly after ICE agents shot and killed two immigrants during traffic stops in Maine and Texas over the span of six days in July. — Christopher Cann, USA Today, 9 Aug. 2026 In May, an officer spotted a possible suspect vehicle and attempted a traffic stop, but the driver allegedly sped away. — Stepheny Price, FOXNews.com, 9 Aug. 2026 The traffic stop and violent encounter came a day after a person reported that a man had fired at him and his vehicle. — Daniel Hunt, Sacbee.com, 8 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for traffic stop

Word History

First Known Use

1953, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of traffic stop was in 1953

Rhymes for traffic stop

See All Rhymes for traffic stop

Browse Nearby Words

traffic signal
traffic stop
traffic stopper
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Traffic stop.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/traffic%20stop. Accessed 14 Aug. 2026.

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