Suspension means temporarily stopping something from continuing, like pressing pause on a video game. When a student gets suspended from school, they must stay home for a certain number of days as a consequence for breaking an important rule. When a basketball player gets suspended for three games, they can't play during those games but can return afterward.

You can see this idea of “hanging” or being held up in some uses of the word. A suspension bridge hangs from strong cables, with the roadway suspended in the air between tall towers. The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco is a famous suspension bridge. In science, a suspension is when tiny particles hang in a liquid without dissolving, like when you shake up a snow globe and the glitter stays floating in the water.

Cars have suspension systems too: springs and shock absorbers that let the wheels move up and down over bumps while keeping the car body steady. Without a suspension system, every pothole would jolt you hard.

What these meanings share is the idea of something being held up or held back. Whether it's a student suspended from school, a bridge suspended over water, or a car's suspension absorbing bumps, something is kept in a special state, separate from its usual position or activity.