noun
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an agreement to stop fighting, esp temporarily
-
temporary cessation of something unpleasant
Usage
What does truce mean? A truce is a stoppage of fighting between two or more people or sides in a conflict, especially a temporary one.The agreement, or treaty, that establishes such a stoppage can also be called a truce. When used in the context of military conflicts, a truce is often temporary and set for a specified period of time.Truce can also be used casually to refer to an agreement between two or more people to stop arguing or engaging in some less serious form of conflict, like a pillow fight (not that pillow fights can’t get pretty intense).Example: I realized the bad blood between me and Taylor was really petty, so we both decided to call a truce.
Other Word Forms
- truceless adjective
Etymology
Origin of truce
1175–1225; Middle English trewes, plural of trewe, Old English trēow belief, pledge, treaty. See trow
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.
The UN Security Council session is aimed at pushing for progress on a humanitarian truce, which has been elusive despite the enormous civilian suffering.
From BBC
Beijing’s primary objective is stability through a “truce extension” that moves beyond the current one-year trade framework, according to people close to the Chinese government.
Gaza's health ministry, which operates under Hamas authorities, says at least 601 people have been killed since the truce began.
From Barron's
Analysts have attributed the rise to enthusiasm about artificial-intelligence breakthroughs in China and a truce in the trade war between the U.S. and China.
Marshall brokered a cease-fire between a dismayed Chiang and gleeful Communists in January 1946: It was meant to last for two weeks but “became a four-month truce that changed the course of the civil war.”
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.