cease and desist

Idioms  

1. Stop, leave off doing something, as in: “Bliss excavated at least once on his own and Dr. Brand ... told him to cease and desist” (Douglas Preston quoting Frank Hibben, The New Yorker, June 12, 1995). This legal term is a redundancy, since cease and desist mean virtually the same thing, but often appears in legal documents to avoid possible misinterpretation. [c. 1920]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cease and desist

Last month, Dawn Buckingham, who leads the General Land Office, sent a cease and desist letter to CBP and a federal contractor she said had illegally cleared GLO-owned land in Presidio County.

From Salon ● Aug. 24, 2026

Police say that during the visit Flowers did not engage with officers and was given a cease and desist order to deter him from further offending.

From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2026

The bar says the firm refused to remove McBratney’s name from its website for years despite a cease and desist letter.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 4, 2026

Small is represented by barrister Francis McEntegart, who sent a cease and desist letter to the club with a demand for compensation.

From BBC ● Apr. 24, 2026

One day he lit into Vanguard’s index funds and almost instantly received a cease and desist order from Vanguard’s attorneys.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

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