1
as in to relinquish
to give (something) over to the control or possession of another usually under duress
she reluctantly ceded her position as leader
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2
as in to assign
to give over the legal possession or ownership of
Spain ceded Puerto Rico to the United States as part of the settlement of the Spanish-American War
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3
as in to abdicate
to give up (as a position of authority) formally
the President officially cedes his position on the January 20th immediately following the presidential election
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of cede
Southwest Airlines is cutting service at Chicago O’Hare International Airport, effectively ceding ground to the two giants jockeying for dominance at the hub.
—
Dallas Morning News, 13 Mar. 2026
Choosing silence also cedes our right to free speech.
—Jenna Norton, STAT, 12 Mar. 2026
Officials at both districts point to the fact that their current offers to their unions are in line with the recommendations of an independent fact finder and that ceding to union demands would mean major programming cuts for students.
—Jennah Pendleton, Sacbee.com, 12 Mar. 2026
Swayman is likely to cede the net to Joonas Korpisalo on Sunday against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
—Fluto Shinzawa, New York Times, 7 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for cede
Dallas Morning News, 13 Mar. 2026
Choosing silence also cedes our right to free speech.
—Jenna Norton, STAT, 12 Mar. 2026
Officials at both districts point to the fact that their current offers to their unions are in line with the recommendations of an independent fact finder and that ceding to union demands would mean major programming cuts for students.
—Jennah Pendleton, Sacbee.com, 12 Mar. 2026
Swayman is likely to cede the net to Joonas Korpisalo on Sunday against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
—Fluto Shinzawa, New York Times, 7 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for cede
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cede
Verb
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The plan calls for Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza to relinquish their weapons, placing the responsibility of all arms in the hands of a new governing authority.—
Brittney Melton,
NPR,
20 Mar. 2026
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Microsoft relinquished its right to be OpenAI’s exclusive cloud provider, but retained a clause that requires all of OpenAI’s API calls, or calls to access its AI models, to be routed through Azure, the reporting noted.—
Frank Landymore,
Futurism,
19 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The building had served for decades as the site of intake operations for single men and families without children, and, in addition to assigning people to shelters around the city, Bellevue itself also offered hundreds of beds.—
Molly Fischer,
New Yorker,
20 Mar. 2026
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Jay joined the department in 1997 and is assigned to the Canine Unit.—
Chase Rogers,
Dallas Morning News,
19 Mar. 2026
Verb
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When the state abdicates its duty, the people must step in.—
William Morris,
Des Moines Register,
17 Mar. 2026
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RadarOnline is reporting that the King is set to abdicate in favor of his son, Prince William.—
Lizzie Lanuza,
StyleCaster,
9 Mar. 2026
Verb
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According to a complicated lawsuit filed late last year in New York by CIM, the Real Deal news website reported, Goodtime had been in default of the loan for months, and negotiations were underway to surrender control of the property in lieu of a formal foreclosure.—
Andres Viglucci,
Miami Herald,
20 Mar. 2026
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After the successful defense of the city, the Portuguese governor extended amnesty to all rebels who surrendered.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
19 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Cantens, a 40-year-old Miami native, played his first year of college basketball at FIU as a 6-foot point guard before transferring to Eckerd College and reaching the NCAA Division II national playoffs.—
Walter Villa,
Miami Herald,
21 Mar. 2026
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In March 2025, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled Watercrest violated a collective bargaining agreement with the workers’ union by transferring the operations of its facility in North Miami Beach without the union’s consent.—
Cindy Krischer Goodman,
Sun Sentinel,
21 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Some point fingers, others are resigned.—
Ben Smith,
semafor.com,
23 Mar. 2026
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However, less than three weeks later, Jain resigned as co-CEO after losing investor confidence.—
Aslesha Mehta,
Fortune,
23 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Guten singled out the defense’s witness, Beatty, as too biased to render an impartial assessment, characterizing the social worker’s testimony as advocacy, not an expert opinion.—
Pamela Colloff,
ProPublica,
24 Mar. 2026
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Across his multimedia practice, Aram’s project is one of disrupting the habits of classification that render aesthetic judgment perfunctory.—
Julian Stern,
Artforum,
24 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Hyland’s images convey this sense of loneliness.—
Peter Hessler,
New Yorker,
21 Mar. 2026
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Across genres, his roles share a kind of idealistic yearning to be seen and to be known that Gosling conveys with those soft eyes and a tired half-smile.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
20 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Cede.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cede. Accessed 26 Mar. 2026.
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