truce

[troos]

noun

1. a suspension of hostilities for a specified period of time by mutual agreement of the warring parties; cease-fire; armistice.

2. an agreement or treaty establishing this.

3. a temporary respite, as from trouble or pain.

   Synonyms: stay, rest, pause, lull

truce

/ truːs /

noun

1. an agreement to stop fighting, esp temporarily

2. temporary cessation of something unpleasant

Other Word Forms

• truceless adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of truce¹

1175–1225; Middle English trewes, plural of trewe, Old English trēow belief, pledge, treaty. See trow

Word History and Origins

Origin of truce¹

C13: from the plural of Old English treow _trow ; see _true , _trust

Example Sentences

Washington has urged the warring parties to finalise a truce in Sudan.

Read more on Barron's

Under the truce, Israel was to withdraw its forces from south Lebanon, but it has kept them at five areas it deems strategic.

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A furious denial also came from the RSF, denouncing what it called "all biased statements against them" and attempts to scapegoat it in order to cover up the army's rejection of the truce.

Read more on BBC

"We expect the economy to remain weak over the coming quarter," she wrote, adding that Beijing's recent trade truce with Washington "is unlikely to provide much relief".

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Even if the truce grows into a lasting peace, Israel will likely continue to face threats from regional adversaries such as Iran and militants in Yemen, Lebanon and elsewhere.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• accord 
• agreement 
• amnesty 
• armistice 
• cease-fire 
• détente 
• lull 
• moratorium 
• pause 
• peace 
• reconciliation 
• reprieve 
• suspension 

When To Use

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.