cease
Americanverb (used without object)
-
ceases,
present (3rd person singular)
-
ceased,
past participle, past
-
ceasing
present participle
verb (used with object)
-
ceases,
present (3rd person singular)
-
ceased,
past participle, past
-
ceasing
present participle
noun
idioms
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
ceasesimple
-
ceasessimple
-
have ceasedperfect
-
has ceasedperfect
-
am ceasingprogressive
-
are ceasingprogressive
-
is ceasingprogressive
-
have been ceasingperfect progressive
-
has been ceasingperfect progressive
Past
-
ceasedsimple
-
had ceasedperfect
-
was ceasingprogressive
-
were ceasingprogressive
-
had been ceasingperfect progressive
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
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Christmas Carol Vocab: A Lyrical Lexicon
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Unit 1: Telling Details
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
See Examples For:
OnPoint Logistics will cease operations at its San Francisco location and cut 96 jobs, according to a government filing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
But the local government separately ordered the project to cease operations, citing licensing irregularities.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 1, 2026
"You've got to be awed by it all, which I never cease to be."
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
"As of today, Have a Nice Stay will cease operation temporarily," the sign said, saying they would notify customers who had ordered books online of further arrangements.
From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026
I was terrified that if he knew how I felt about him and didn't reciprocate my feelings, then we'd cease to be friends.
From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi
Researchers refer to this phenomenon as Goodhart’s law: “When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.”
From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2026
If exchange ceases to be reciprocal, the entire relationship changes.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 7, 2026
The former requires all persons to respect the criminal and civil law while in a foreign nation, but ceases to bind them on their departure.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026
If a child isn’t acting exactly how a parent or caretaker would prefer at any moment, is that the barrier where our love for them ceases, even momentarily?
From Salon ● Jun. 28, 2026
Once this is understood, the disagreeable behavior of American enlisted men in German prisons ceases to be a mystery.
From "Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut
Facing the sea, Havana's famous Malecon seawall has ceased to be a promenade for tourists or lovers.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
The author’s fondness for masculine attire and habits—she enjoyed smoking cigars—has never ceased to generate ticklish speculation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
The duo studied dusty LPs from Mexico and Colombia and employed a panoply of vintage keyboards to re-create the ghostly sounds of a Latin America that ceased to exist decades ago.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
And when the entire enterprise has ceased to sound fun, there is always frozen pizza.
From Salon ● Aug. 4, 2026
No: stillness returned: each murmur and movement ceased gradually, and in about an hour Thornfield Hall was again as hushed as a desert.
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
A #SaveDenby campaign encouraging people to buy more products was launched, but administrators said they failed to find a buyer, leading to production ceasing.
From BBC ● Jun. 5, 2026
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Esmail Baghaei, told reporters Thursday that the talks starting would be “contingent” upon hostilities ceasing in Lebanon.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 9, 2026
The activist investor said key elements of the stand-alone plan included unwinding cross-shareholdings and ceasing overinvestment in the automotive segment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 19, 2026
He was accused of ceasing his rent payments in October 2016, two months before his lease came to an end in December of that year.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 8, 2026
Colin spent the next ninety minutes thinking, without ceasing, about a girl he'd known for less than two weeks.
From "An Abundance of Katherines" by John Green
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.
