An ellipsis is a punctuation mark consisting of three DOTS that indicate an omission or pause in a sentence. It is also known as a suspension point, points of ellipsis, periods of ellipsis, or colloquially, 'DOTS'. Ellipses are used to indicate a pause, hesitation, or trailing off in thought. They can also be used to indicate an unfinished thought or to show that part of a sentence has been omitted.