: to intervene between parties with a view to reconciling differences : mediate
intercedernoun
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The Latin cedere means "to go", so "go between" is the most literal meaning of intercede. (The same -cede root can also be seen in such words as precede and secede.) If you've been blamed unfairly for something, a friend may intercede on your behalf with your coach or teacher. More often, it will be the coach or teacher who has to intercede in a student dispute. The intercession of foreign governments has sometimes prevented conflicts from becoming worse than they otherwise would have.
intervene may imply an occurring in space or time between two things or a stepping in to stop a conflict.
quarreled until the manager intervened
mediate implies intervening between hostile factions.
mediated between the parties
intercede implies acting for an offender in begging mercy or forgiveness.
interceded on our behalf
Examples of intercede in a Sentence
Their argument probably would have become violent if I hadn't interceded.
When the boss accused her of lying, several other employees interceded on her behalf.
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As far as disputes are concerned, the technology that has increasingly been used to intercede is blockchain.—Saro McKenna, Forbes.com, 20 June 2025 The attack comes as Israel and Iran enter their seventh day of tit-for-tat strikes in the wake of the Israeli military’s initial blow to Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and as President Trump and his administration weigh whether the U.S. should intercede.—Tara Suter, The Hill, 19 June 2025 City officials, a judge and even police have been forced to intercede after residents who say the self-driving cars are a nuisance have banded together against the local 56-vehicle fleet.—Salvador Hernandez, Los Angeles Times, 29 May 2025 Orlando Sentinel Nearly two dozen supporters of the forest turned out Tuesday to plead with Orange County to intercede.—Stephen Hudak, The Orlando Sentinel, 6 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for intercede
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