: 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.
Recent Examples on the WebIn March 2015, the UAE joined the Arab military coalition, led by Saudi Arabia, that interceded in the Yemeni civil war.—Nate Jones, Washington Post, 6 Feb. 2024 Norway’s push to start deep-sea mining in its territorial waters has created a massive rift in the European Parliament as lawmakers debated the policy and whether to intercede.—Peter Aitken, Fox News, 20 Jan. 2024 Tired must intercede in a less passive way — such as contacting the police, irrespective of Christy pressing charges.—Amy Dickinson, Sun Sentinel, 11 Jan. 2024 Tired must intercede in a less passive way — such as by contacting the police, irrespective of Christy pressing charges.—Amy Dickinson, Washington Post, 11 Jan. 2024 Tired must intercede in a less passive way – such as contacting the police, irrespective of Christy pressing charges.—Amy Dickinson, Detroit Free Press, 11 Jan. 2024 After an Egyptian military air strike from a U.S.-made Apache helicopter accidentally injured an American tourist in 2015, Menendez appears to have interceded to protect the flow of U.S. aid.—David D. Kirkpatrick, The New Yorker, 15 Oct. 2023 Emma visits a priest and schedules a baptism in the last-ditch hope that maybe the Holy Spirit can intercede in whatever’s going on in her life.—Phillip MacIak, The New Republic, 7 Sep. 2023 Some witnesses told police that the suspect was a good Samaritan who interceded when the man who was killed assaulted a woman, according to KTLA-TV.—Noah Goldberg, Los Angeles Times, 18 Aug. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'intercede.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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