full stop Definition

1. A punctuation mark (.) used to indicate the end of a sentence or to mark an abbreviation. Also (especially Scots and N Amer) called period.

A full stop

○ marks the end of a sentence &wbox; &wbox; In direct speech, the full stop is replaced by a comma if the quoted speech is followed by a verb of saying, wondering, etc &wbox; &wbox;

○ It can be used to mark the end of an abbreviation &wbox; &wbox; &wbox; . There is an increasing tendency to write abbreviations without full stops, particularly those that include the final letter of the word, such as and , and abbreviations of countries and organizations, such as , and .

○ Three full stops, sometimes called ‘an ellipsis' or ‘omission marks', indicate that something has been left out &wbox; &wbox; &wbox;