cede

verb

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\ ˈsēd

ceded; ceding

Definition of cede

transitive verb

1 : to yield or grant typically by treaty Russia ceded Alaska to the U.S. in 1867.

2 : assign, transfer ceded his stock holdings to his children

Other Words from cede Synonyms Do you cede or seed control? Did You Know? More Example Sentences Learn More about cede

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Did You Know?

Cede is often a formal term used in discussing territory and rights, but is also used less formally. So, for example, Spain ceded Puerto Rico to the U.S. in 1898, following the Spanish-American War, and the U.S. ceded control of the Panama Canal to Panama in 1999. Critics warn that we are ceding leadership in alternative-energy technology to China. Citizens of one European country or another are always worrying that their own country is ceding too much power to the European Union. A tennis player doesn't have any choice when she cedes her no. 1 ranking to a rival.

Examples of cede in a Sentence

Russia ceded Alaska to the U.S. in 1867. she reluctantly ceded her position as leader

Recent Examples on the Web Citizens and their representative governments ceding sovereignty to unaccountable supranational bodies is the geopolitical equivalent of corporations cashiering the shareholder model in favor of stakeholder capitalism. — Richard J. Shinder, WSJ, "The Davos Crowd Embraces Big Global Government," 26 Jan. 2020 There was no concern about ceding control to ideological enemies who could use the rules to thwart the discovery of truth. — Ephrat Livni, Quartz, "The Trump and Clinton impeachments are as alike as apples and oranges," 17 Jan. 2020 Some of that might have come from ceding some of the offense to Westbrook, who was 7 of 13 for 16 points in the half. — Jonathan Feigen, Houston Chronicle, "Trail Blazers shut down James Harden to defeat Rockets," 15 Jan. 2020 Some Google employees say the founders have been ceding the spotlight to other executives for years. — New York Times, "How Google’s Founders Slowly Stepped Away From Their Company," 4 Dec. 2019 And while that involves picking a few early winners, that still seems preferable to ceding .new to a bunch of profiteering squatters. — Wired, "Google's .New Shortcuts Are Now for Everyone," 29 Oct. 2019 Our current legislators have abandoned regular order and instead lurch from crisis to crisis and artificial emergency to artificial emergency, steadily ceding power to the power-hungry presidency and to the bureaucracies reporting to it. — Kevin D. Williamson, National Review, "Inching Back toward the Rule of Law," 23 June 2019 On top of Trump's low approval, Republicans this year have also been saddled by more than 40 House retirements, ceding the power of incumbency in several competitive races. — Steve Peoples, Fox News, "Overconfident? Dem optimism surges as midterms approach," 22 Sep. 2018 Aaron Holiday or McConnell could cede some of their time to Edmond Sumner, who has been recalled after a one-game G-League stint to keep him sharp. — J. Michael, Indianapolis Star, "Insider: Unlike last season's team, Pacers venture out West from a position of strength," 18 Jan. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'cede.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.