cease-fire
Americannoun
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a cessation of hostilities; truce.
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Military. an order issued for a cease-fire.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of cease-fire
First recorded in 1840–50; noun use of verb phrase cease fire
Explanation
When two warring countries take a short break from killing each other's soldiers, it's a cease-fire. Often part of peace talks, a cease-fire is a temporary pause in a battle. Any time a commander orders troops to stop firing their weapons, that's a cease-fire. The noun, in fact, comes from a military command: "Cease fire!" Cease means "stop," from the Latin cessare, "go slow or leave off." Another name for a cease-fire is a truce; it can be an informal agreement to delay any violence for the time being, or part of an official treaty between nations and the end of a war.
Vocabulary lists containing cease-fire
This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for January 19–January 25, 2025
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for February 24–March 1, 2024
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for August 17–August 23, 2024
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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:
President Donald Trump previously said that cease-fire was over.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 20, 2026
The U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding and its cease-fire were effectively dead-on-arrival.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026
The June cease-fire between Hezbollah and Israel came with a few Hezbollah men still holed up in two tunnels outside the city of Nabatiyeh, a Hezbollah stronghold.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026
The national average has stayed under $4 a gallon for the past two weeks, after the U.S. and Iran agreed to a temporary cease-fire last month.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 2, 2026
It wasn’t a pretty fight, but in the end, we came up with, if not an agreement, a cease-fire.
From "Shelter (Book One): A Mickey Bolitar Novel" by Harlan Coben
The strikes came in the wake of a back-and-forth over potential cease-fires this week, and leave doubt over whether any pause in the fighting will take place.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 6, 2026
While investors walk on eggshells anticipating Fed decisions, tariff relief, and evanescent cease-fires, one company is steadily feeding investors nutritious dividends, cash flows, and earnings per share growth.
From Barron's ● Dec. 11, 2025
At the same time, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israeli forces will “continue to firmly enforce the cease-fires in the north and south.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 27, 2025
Hope of cease-fires, and of life going on.
From New York Times ● Oct. 28, 2023
In past crises, Egypt has served as an interlocutor with the organization, facilitating prisoner swaps and helping negotiate cease-fires.
From Slate ● Oct. 25, 2023
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.
