The journalist's first instinct was to dismiss the rumor, but a second look gave him pause. Several details, trivial in isolation, fit together too neatly to be the work of pure invention.
As used in the text, what does the word "pause" most nearly mean?
- A
a key on a remote control
- B
a short rest
- Ccheck_circle
reason to reconsider
- D
a brief silence
Explanation
The details made him stop and reconsider — "pause" here is reason to reconsider (idiomatic "give one pause"), not a literal silence, button, or rest.