cease
Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
noun
idioms
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
has ceasedperfect 3rd person singular
-
have ceasedperfect
-
are ceasingprogressive
-
ceasessingular 3rd person
-
has been ceasingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
-
ceasingparticiple
-
have been ceasingperfect progressive
-
is ceasingprogressive 3rd person singular
-
am ceasingprogressive 1st person singular
Past
-
had ceasedperfect
-
was ceasingprogressive singular
-
ceasedsimple
-
were ceasingprogressive plural
-
had been ceasingperfect progressive
-
ceasedparticiple
Future
Etymology
Origin of cease
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English ces(s)en, from Old French cesser, from Latin cessāre “to leave off,” equivalent to cess(us) (past participle of cēdere “to withdraw, go”; see cede
Explanation
To cease is to stop or end. Your gym teacher may have trained the class so well that all chattering will cease every time she blows her whistle. Cease comes from the Old French cesser, which means "come to an end," "go away," "give up," or "yield." Although cease often appears in the past tense with "-ed," cease is common for talking about things as they come to an end. A dead plant has ceased living, and if you cease watering the rest of the plants, they will cease to exist too.
Vocabulary lists containing cease
"Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare, Act II
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Christmas Carol Vocab: A Lyrical Lexicon
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Unit 1: Telling Details
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Cease your practice of copying tour pros, who have turned golf into survival of the finickiest by adhering to preshot routines that violate loitering laws in most states.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 9, 2026
Dylan Cease signed a seven-year, $210-million deal with the Toronto Blue Jays.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 30, 2026
Associate Professor Mamour Touré of Université Gaston Berger in Saint-Louis, Senegal, served as lead author, while Cease was the principal investigator for the USAID-supported project.
From Science Daily • Jan. 24, 2026
For Cease, that gap made the next step obvious.
From Science Daily • Jan. 24, 2026
Aureliano Segundo’s old carousing comrades laid on his casket a wreath that had a purple ribbon with the words: Cease, cows, life is short.
From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
