Definition of "aposiopesis"

aposiopesis

/ˌæpəsaɪəˈpiːsɪs/

noun
countable and uncountable, plural aposiopeses
1. (rhetoric) An abrupt breaking-off in speech, often indicated in print using an ellipsis (…) or an em dash (—).
  Quotations
  —"My ſiſter, mayhap," quoth my uncle Toby, "does not chooſe to let a man come ſo near her ****" Make this daſh—'tis an Apoſiopeſis.—Take the daſh away, and write Backſide,—'tis Bawdy.
  1759, [Laurence Sterne], chapter VI, in The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, 2nd (1st London) edition, volume II, London: […] R[obert] and J[ames] Dodsley […], published 1760, page 123
  Aposiopesis leaves imperfect sense;And, sometimes, such a pause speaks eloquence.]
  Langley, A Manual of the Figures of Rhetoric, […], Doncaster: Printed by C. White, Baxter-Gate, page 57
  “If you are not—” The aposiopesis was icy.
  1911, Max Beerbohm, Zuleika Dobson
  “Have fire in this garret before night or—” / He stopped because he could not go on. It was an aposiopesis of the purest kind.
  1938, Samuel Beckett, Murphy, London: George Routledge & Sons, OCLC 939632162; republished New York, N.Y.: Grove Press, 1957, OCLC 855435111, page 164
  This somewhat abrupt ending (or aposiopesis) is caused by a previous movement from the figure on the bed.
  1982, John Fowles, Mantissa, London: Jonathan Cape