cease1 verbcease2 noun
ceasecease1 /siːs/ ●●○ W3 AWL verb [intransitive, transitive] 
WORD ORIGINcease1
Origin:
1300-1400 Old French cesser, from Latin cessare ‘to delay’, from cedere; ➔ CEDEVERB TABLE
cease
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | cease |
| he, she, it | ceases | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | ceased |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have ceased |
| he, she, it | has ceased | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had ceased |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will cease |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have ceased |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am ceasing |
| he, she, it | is ceasing | |
| you, we, they | are ceasing | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was ceasing |
| you, we, they | were ceasing | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been ceasing |
| he, she, it | has been ceasing | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been ceasing |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be ceasing |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been ceasing |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- All conversation ceased as the two police officers entered.
- By noon the rain had ceased.
- Hostilities between the two countries have now ceased.
- Many of these firms have now ceased to exist.
- Presently, the rain ceased and the sun came out.
- The factory has now ceased production and will close next month.
- The mill ceased operating commercially two years ago.
- The newspaper has been forced to cease publication.
- The sound of gunfire gradually receded and then ceased altogether.
- Andy Davis, with a strong departmental power base in marketing, had ceased to argue so strongly for diversification.
- For those above them -- households with over $ 62, 000 -- the payroll tax ceases to grow.
- Indeed the psychiatric hospitals themselves may, in many areas, cease to exist.
- That step is to cease attacking Dubrovnik and to withdraw from it.
- The arrangement ended on 1 January when the Soviet Union ceased trading with its former allies on a convertible rouble basis.
- The world had ceased to exist.
- There was nothing to do except wait for the gale to cease while we let Hsu Fu drift with the wind.
- We cease trying vainly to understand the secrets of the Universe as we have hitherto tried to do.
THESAURUSto stop doing something
to not do something any longer: · I wish she would stop talking.· He waited for them to stop.
especially American English informal to stop doing something: · She needs to quit complaining about her life.· It’s too late for him to quit now.
to stop doing something, especially something that you have been doing for a long time: · It’s so hard to give up smoking.· She wants to give up her job.· I’ve given up trying to tell my son to clean his room.
informal to stop doing something, especially because you feel tired or annoyed: · Sometimes I feel like packing in my job and starting again somewhere else.· Pack it in, will you! (=used when telling someone to stop doing something, because they are annoying you)
to stop taking part in something that you have agreed to take part in: · The unions have pulled out of the negotiations.· The US decided to pull out of the competition.
formal to stop doing something: · The company has decided to cease production of its film cameras.· The US government ceased talks with North Korea.
to stop happening to stop happening: · The noise suddenly stopped.· We waited for the rain to stop.
to stop – used about something that has continued for a long time: · The war finally came to an end in 1918.
to gradually stop – used about a pain, a feeling, or the effects of something: · The pain will soon wear off.· The excitement was beginning to wear off.· The anaesthetic took a long time to wear off.
to gradually stop happening or existing: · The campaign petered out after only a few weeks.
formal to stop: · The fighting has ceased.· Production at the factory has ceased.
Longman Language Activatorto stop existing if something disappears , it stops existing, and cannot be seen any more: · Thousands of square miles of rainforest are disappearing each year.· The dolphin has just about disappeared from the coasts of Britain.· Once you start drinking too heavily, the beneficial effects of alcohol disappear.
to stop existing, especially because of a sudden or quick process: · All hopes of finding the boy alive have vanished.· The Shatin rice fields have long vanished beneath a new town of skyscrapers and motorways.vanish without a trace (=so that nothing remains): · Like so many dance crazes, the "moonwalk' was popular for a while in the clubs, then vanished without a trace.
if a type of animal or plant becomes extinct , all the animals or plants of that type die, so that the type does not exist any more: · Dinosaurs became extinct millions of years ago.· If nothing is done to save the whales now, the species will soon become extinct.
when all the animals or plants of a particular type die, so that the type no longer exists: · The Scarlet Macaw is in imminent danger of extinction.face/be threatened with extinction (=likely to soon become extinct): · Out of 329 parrot species, 30 now face extinction.· Large numbers of rare and beautiful Alpine plants are threatened with extinction. save something from extinction: · attempts to save the elephant from extinction
to gradually become rarer and then stop existing - use this about a type of animal or plant, a disease, or a custom: · Diseases such as leprosy and polio have almost completely died out.· The country is changing very quickly and many of the old traditions are dying out.· The nearest common ancestor of man and the modern great apes died out about 30 million years ago.
to stop existing: · The town which Joyce wrote about has long since ceased to exist.· As of 1991, the Russian Communist Party effectively ceased to exist.
to stop happening · It seemed the fighting would never stop.· Catherine stood watching the rain, hoping it would stop soon.· Suddenly, the cheering stopped and there was a deathly silence.· This waste of the earth's resources must stop.
if something that has been happening for a long time comes to an end , it stops happening: · When we had children, all our trips to theatres and cinemas came to an end.· Research at the college came to an end in 1870.· All good things must come to an end.
formal to stop happening: · Hostilities between the two countries have now ceased.· Presently, the rain ceased and the sun came out.cease altogether (=stop completely): · The sound of gunfire gradually receded and then ceased altogether.
to stop doing something to no longer do something that you had been doing: · He wrote quickly, but from time to time he stopped and looked out of the window.stop doing something: · I stopped reading and turned out the light.· Please will you all stop making so much noise!stop what you are doing: · Could you stop what you are doing and pay attention, please?stop for lunch/coffee/a break etc: · What time do you want to stop for lunch?
to stop doing something because you have completed it: · She spoke for ten minutes, and when she had finished the audience cheered.· We should have finished the job by next week.finish doing something: · Have you finished reading the papers?· After you've finished painting the house you can start on the garage.
especially American, spoken to stop doing something, especially something that annoys other people: quit doing something: · I wish he'd quit bothering me.· They should quit complaining and just get on with their job!
formal to stop doing something: · All conversation ceased as the two police officers entered.· The factory has now ceased production and will close next month.cease doing something: · The mill ceased operating commercially two years ago.cease to do something: · Many of these firms have now ceased to exist.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY
The things people will do for charity never cease to amaze me (=I am always surprised by them). It never ceased to amaze him that women were attracted to Sam. Her legs have now ceased to function.
The things people will do for charity never cease to amaze me (=I am always surprised by them). (=stop operating a business) The company ceased production at their Norwich plant last year.
The company ceased production at their Norwich plant last year. (=used to order soldiers to stop shooting)
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES It never ceased to amaze him that women were attracted to Sam. (=stop existing)· Many of these companies will cease to exist in five years' time.
Her legs have now ceased to function. (=stop being a business because you are bankrupt)
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB· It ceased abruptly and her gaze left his to wander down his body, stopping only to rest upon his nakedness.· The alimony Betty Parsons lived on abruptly ceased, and she was forced to leave Paris.· Yeremi's stream of plasma ceased abruptly as his hand cramped within that fervid womb.· Some may have been in hiding, traumatized by the squealing that had filled the afternoon air and then quite abruptly ceased.
· As the Old Bailey Chronicle reported, Smith experienced excessive pain when first turned off, but that ceased almost immediately.· Required to spend more time with Matilda, Agnes finds that her encounters with the curate dwindle and almost cease altogether.· It had almost ceased to matter that she was in Paris, and not in love.· Electorally, Labour has almost ceased to exist in those counties.· One wet day, though, in 1985 Bellerby Feast had almost ceased to exist.
· Had Woodhead gone in 1997, he would have long ceased to be a serious nuisance.
· I have no problems with this evidence, but it never ceases to amaze me what some modern theologians do with it.· It never ceased to amaze me to watch soldiers head right for these places.· It never ceased to amaze me how he could do it.· His daughter's beauty had never ceased to surprise the chief inspector.· Frye never ceased to be amazed by how little they knew, how unfamiliar they were with the basic routines of school.· Millie thought that they would never cease praying.· These towers of loops never cease to amuse us because inevitably the messages circulating along them cross their own paths.
· Once formed, rings soon cease to exchange with the biosphere.· This is not like the Tao, and that which is not Tao-like will soon cease.· He soon ceased trying new ideas, already outstripped by others far more inventive than he.
NOUN· If that prospect goes, the port operation would probably cease.· Unemployment insurance operations have ceased in Kansas, and may soon halt in 10 other states and the District of Columbia.· Immediately after fertilising operations have ceased, banking-up is performed by ploughing an angled blade between each row of vines.
· It was investigated in 1989 for violations of environmental laws, and production ceased later that year.· Voice over At the end of the week, production will finally cease in the Rover north works.
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRY
- He commanded all law violators to cease and desist.
WORD FAMILYnouncessationceaseadjectiveceaselessverbceaseadverbceaselessly
1formal to stop doing something or stop happeningcease to do something He ceased to be a member of the association. The things people will do for charity never cease to amaze me (=I am always surprised by them).cease doing something the decision to cease using CFCs in packaging The rain ceased and the sky cleared.cease trading/production/operations etc (=stop operating a business) The company ceased production at their Norwich plant last year.cease fire! (=used to order soldiers to stop shooting)► see thesaurus at stopRegisterIn everyday English, people usually use stop rather than cease:· They have stopped using CFCs in packaging.· The rain stopped just as the fireworks began.2cease and desist law to stop doing something → ceasefire, → wonders will never cease at wonder2(5)cease1 verbcease2 noun
ceasecease2 noun EXAMPLES FROM THE CORPUS
- Aircraft landed and took off without cease, so that seldom less than a dozen were airborne at one time.
- As long as you lack something, you yearn for it without cease.
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES It never ceased to amaze him that women were attracted to Sam. Her legs have now ceased to function.
It never ceased to amaze him that women were attracted to Sam. (=stop existing)· Many of these companies will cease to exist in five years' time.
Her legs have now ceased to function. (=stop being a business because you are bankrupt)
WORD FAMILYnouncessationceaseadjectiveceaselessverbceaseadverbceaselessly
without cease formal without stopping