Is there a word for something that means the stopping of a downward movement or feeling or movement specifically. Like a word that's definition is to prevent from going downward, specifically?
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1The verb "arrest" (as in "the safety net arrested his fall") is often used to refer to the stopping of some undesired motion, but it's not always downward. And of course it also has a legal/criminal sense.– Hot LicksCommented Apr 26, 2018 at 23:25
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arrest and stop a fall mean the same thing, though. What's wrong with stop anyway? stop a movement, halt a movement, arrest a movement, none mean downwards necessarily.– LambieCommented Apr 26, 2018 at 23:29
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'Catch' 'cushion' 'capture' but none are specific to 'downwards'. Even if something is grounded it still has potential energy. The mass of the earth is still attracting it downwards.– Nigel JCommented Apr 27, 2018 at 3:27
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3 Answers
buoy
buoy
1. To keep afloat or aloft: a glider buoyed by air currents.
2.
a. To maintain at a high level; support: "the persistent ... takeover speculation, which has buoyed up the shares of banks" (Financial Times).
American Heritage Dictionaryvb 1. (usually foll by: up) to prevent from sinking: the belt buoyed him up.
2. (usually foll by: up) to raise the spirits of; hearten
4. (intr) to rise to the surface
Collins English Dictionarybuoyant
adj
2. (General Physics) (of a liquid or gas) able to keep a body afloat or cause it to rise
Collins English Dictionary
My example sentences:
The balloon was buoyed by the helium gas.
The prices were kept buoyed by the persistent consumer demand.
Though his wife had left him recently, his preoccupation with his hobby kept his spirits buoyant.
The buoyancy of an object prevents its descent on the condition that its density is lower than that of its surrounding physical medium.
answered Apr 26, 2018 at 23:01
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2To me buoy conveys the idea of 'keeping something up' eventually higher than it should be or higher than average. Or to prevent something from sinking.– JoHKaCommented Apr 26, 2018 at 23:22
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I was about to draft an answer with "cushion," but couldn't escape the notion that "cushion" is just a lesser "buoy." Well done. Commented Apr 27, 2018 at 0:00
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I don't know that I see a distinction between "keeping something up" and "preventing it from falling". Other words I thought of like "arrest" and "brake" do imply deceleration, just not in an up/down direction. The only word I could think of to describe this is "buoy". When the OP says downward, it's important to remember "downward" is relative. Buoyancy is essentially something's relative density, in any medium, water, air etc. I assume downward is generally seen as being toward the Earth's centre of mass, however even metaphorically buoyancy simply means up/down. Commented Apr 27, 2018 at 7:20
"when you all of a sudden feel a sense of safety"
RELIEF
2a. removal or lightening of something oppressive, painful, or distressing
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I guess I meant a world for something that means the stopping of a downward movement or feeling or movement specifically. Like a word that's definition is to prevent from going downward (specifically).– GinaVCommented Apr 26, 2018 at 22:39
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1@GinaV You should avoid changing the Q to something completely different, especially when it makes existing valid answers invalid.– MWBCommented Apr 26, 2018 at 22:55
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Any chance to provide us with the context or the full phrase, please.– JoHKaCommented Apr 26, 2018 at 23:23
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Tidied up your link for you to show you how it's done. Undo if you wish.– Nigel JCommented Apr 27, 2018 at 3:21
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To 'ground' something is to bring it to rest so that it can go no further downwards.
d. intr. To alight on the ground; to come to or strike the ground.
1908 H. G. Wells War in Air viii. 258 The Zeppelin..circled down and grounded in Prospect Park, in order to land the wounded.
1793 J. Smeaton Narr. Edystone Lighthouse (ed. 2) §143 We proceeded lowering till our anchor was grounded.
2016 Sunday Times (Nexis) 28 Feb. (Sport section) 2 Ireland were grossly unlucky not to be awarded a try when Josh van der Flier almost certainly grounded the ball over the line but there was no angle for the TMO to confirm it.
