Library / English Dictionary

CEASE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (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)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

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

Example:

The symphony ends in a pianissimo

Synonyms:

cease; end; finish; stop; terminate

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

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

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)

lapse (end, at least for a long time)

pass away (go out of existence)

Sentence frames:

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

Sense 2

Meaning:

Put an end to a state or an activity

Example:

Quit teasing your little brother

Synonyms:

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

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

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)

Credits

 Context examples: 

The time when an event has ceased.

(End Time, NCI Thesaurus)

Production of the antigen ceases shortly before birth, but may reappear in people who develop certain types of cancer.

(Carcinoembryonic antigen, NCI Thesaurus)

Because the arabinose sugar sterically hinders the rotation of the molecule within DNA, DNA replication ceases, specifically during the S phase of the cell cycle.

(Ancitabine, NCI Thesaurus)

Terminology relevant to the reason the drug or therapy was temporarily ceased.

(CDISC SDTM Reason for Treatment Interruption Terminology, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

Specifies whether the life of an entity has ceased.

(Death Indicator, NCI Thesaurus)

If electron transport ceases or is inhibited, then ATP synthesis also rapidly halts.

(Electron Transport Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

Bar from attention or consideration; cease to consider.

(Dismiss, NCI Thesaurus)

But he would never cease talking of it—your kindness, sir, and the way in which you brought light into the darkness.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

At last the uproar died away in three last, measured throbs, and ere their echo had ceased the Abbot struck a small gong which summoned a lay-brother to his presence.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Suddenly and at the same moment, the ebullition ceased and the compound changed to a dark purple, which faded again more slowly to a watery green.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)