stop short
Verb
Meaning
To come to a sudden and unexpected stop, particularly while speaking or driving a vehicle.
(usually with of) To voluntarily cease an attempt to reach a certain point.
Synonym: hold back
(with of) To come to a stop before reaching a certain point.
Source: en.wiktionary.orgSynonyms
Examples
The pursuit of truth, properly considered, shouldn't stop short of insanity.
My dear Tiberius, you must not give way to youthful emotion or take it to heart if anyone speaks ill of me; let us be satisfied if we can make people stop short at unkind words.
A lot of people stop short. They don't actually die but they say, 'Right I'm old, and I'm going to retire,' and then they dwindle into nothing. They go off to Florida and become jolly boring.
We can't stop short. If we stop now - leaving terror camps intact and terror states unchecked - our sense of security would be false and temporary. History has called America and our allies to action, and it is both our responsibility and our privilege to fight freedom's fight.
ENTERTAINMENT, n. Any kind of amusement whose inroads stop short of death by injection.
To stop short in any research that bids fair to widen the gates of knowledge, to recoil from fear of difficulty or adverse criticism, is to bring reproach on science.