stop payment

When a bank account holder instructs his or her financial institution not to honor payment.

Investopedia Says:
Stop payments are issued after a check has been delivered, but before the receiving party has cashed it.

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Order by the writer of a check that payment should not be honored. Stop payment orders directing the drawee to dishonor a specific check may be given by telephone or in writing. Under the Uniform Commercial Code, stop payment orders that have been confirmed in writing by the check writer or maker are valid for six months.

Instruct a bank not to honor a check one has drawn, as in If that check was lost, we'll have to stop payment on it before issuing another. This usage was first recorded in 1722.