Choose the option that best completes the following sentence: The committee members could not agree on the proposal, so the chairman _______ the meeting.

'Adjourned' is the correct word because it specifically means to suspend a meeting to a later time or place, which is the standard term used in formal settings. 'Postponed' and 'cancelled' are used for events before they begin, not after they have started. 'Suspended' implies an indefinite halt rather than a formal closure of a meeting.