CEASE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does cease mean? 

• CEASE (noun)
  The noun CEASE has 1 sense:

1. ('cease' is a noun only in the phrase 'without cease') end

  Familiarity information: CEASE used as a noun is very rare.

• CEASE (verb)
  The verb CEASE has 2 senses:

1. put an end to a state or an activity

2. have an end, in a temporal, spatial, or quantitative sense; either spatial or metaphorical

  Familiarity information: CEASE used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CEASE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

('cease' is a noun only in the phrase 'without cease') end

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Hypernyms ("cease" is a kind of...):

end; ending (the point in time at which something ends)

Derivation:

cease (put an end to a state or an activity)

• CEASE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they cease    ... he / she / it ceases   
Past simple: ceased   
Past participle: ceased   
-ing form: ceasing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Put an end to a state or an activity

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

cease; discontinue; give up; lay off; quit; stop

Context example:

Quit teasing your little brother

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "cease"):

drop; knock off (stop pursuing or acting)

leave off (stop using)

sign off (cease broadcasting; get off the air; as of radio stations)

retire; withdraw (withdraw from active participation)

pull the plug (prevent from happening or continuing)

close off; shut off (stem the flow of)

cheese (used in the imperative (get away, or stop it))

call it a day; call it quits (stop doing what one is doing)

break (give up)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s to INFINITIVE
Somebody ----s VERB-ing

Sentence example:

They cease moving

Derivation:

cease (('cease' is a noun only in the phrase 'without cease') end)

cessation (a stopping)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Have an end, in a temporal, spatial, or quantitative sense; either spatial or metaphorical

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

cease; end; finish; stop; terminate

Context example:

The symphony ends in a pianissimo

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "cease"):

lapse (end, at least for a long time)

break (come to an end)

discontinue (come to or be at an end)

come out; turn out (result or end)

close; conclude (come to a close)

disappear; go away; vanish (become invisible or unnoticeable)

go; run low; run short (to be spent or finished)

run out (become used up; be exhausted)

climax; culminate (end, especially to reach a final or climactic stage)

disappear; vanish (cease to exist)

adjourn; break up; recess (close at the end of a session)

go out (become extinguished)

cut out (cease operating)

pass away (go out of existence)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

 Context examples 

Life, when it knows that it must cease living, will always rebel.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

This that we hunt from our village is a tiger, too, a man-eater, and he never cease to prowl.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

The bear grew weak, and never ceased crying from his pain.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

I ceased to draw back, and we went straight to the best parlour, where she left me.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

But this, too, quickly died down and ceased.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Buck simply smothered him by virtue of superior weight, and cut him up till he ceased snapping and began to whine for mercy.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

This may account also for the obvious fact that his wife has ceased to love him.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The thunder ceased; but the rain still continued, and the scene was enveloped in an impenetrable darkness.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

Issue associated with the device ceasing to deliver paces.

(No Pacing Medical Device Problem, Food and Drug Administration)

The patient vacated the medical center or ceased medical care contrary to the recommendation of a trained healthcare provider.

(Left Against Medical Advice, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)