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:
This comes as the U.S.-Iran cease-fire agreement from June has collapsed in recent days.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026
Plunge in gas prices during recent Iran cease-fire brought some relief.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 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
A return to attacks and renewed uncertainty surrounding vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz threatened to upend the June 17 cease-fire agreement between the U.S. and Iran on Tuesday.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 7, 2026
If North Vietnam agreed to a cease-fire and returned the American prisoners of war, Nixon said, he would end the bombing and withdraw the remaining American troops.
From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin
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
Despite the strikes, neither side has declared the cease-fires dead.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 20, 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
It hosts much of Hamas’s political leadership and has helped broker cease-fires during previous escalations in Gaza, including last November.
From New York Times ● Apr. 18, 2024
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.
