cease
Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
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
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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.
See Examples For:
Letterboxd, as we know and love it, would cease to exist, transforming into another nu-media ouroboros.
From Salon ● Jul. 15, 2026
Collins says she has encouraged ICE “to cease all non-urgent vehicle stops,” wants a “full and impartial” investigation of the Biddeford shooting, and thinks agents should wear body cameras.
From Slate ● Jul. 14, 2026
The word loyalty is going to cease to exist in many programs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
But I do believe that once artificial general intelligence is starting to roll out across our economy, the traditional economic models they are using will cease to be a reliable guide to the future.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 28, 2026
Zeitoun, exhausted, would rest against the bow, watching the fish slowly cease their struggles.
From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers
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
Nikki’s interiority ceases only a moment after that fateful conversation about love and romance on the way home from the bar.
From Salon ● Jun. 4, 2026
But if it goes to a nonspouse heir, the IRS says it ceases to be an HSA and treats it as one big withdrawal that counts as income in that tax year for the beneficiaries.
From MarketWatch ● May 21, 2026
All conversation in the room ceases before I can draw my next breath.
From "Insurgent" by Veronica Roth
Mr Aquilino phoned his mother every day and his contact with her had ceased by the time Desborough made the trip, prosecutors told the court.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
That university was never built, but the need for its proposed objectives never ceased.
From Salon ● Jul. 10, 2026
Roughly 26 percent of the trees' yearly carbon uptake happened after growth had ceased.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 9, 2026
It appears to have ceased publication in April, and according to a May press release, longtime editor John Buckingham co-founded a new firm that plans to launch a new value-oriented newsletter later this summer.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 6, 2026
Irmgard gazed fixedly at the TV screen, and Pris had ceased her mutilation of the spider.
From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick
OnPoint Logistics will be ceasing operations at its San Francisco location and cutting 96 jobs, according to a government filing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2026
Ugo Vallauri, co-director of the Restart Project, which encourages repair of electronics, said manufacturers' promises of newer devices offering better performance, when ceasing support for older products, has been seen before.
From BBC ● Apr. 9, 2026
The U.S. 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 ● Mar. 2, 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
The ponderous counterspectacle of things ceasing to be.
From "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy
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.
