1
as in relinquishing
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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in transferring
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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in abdicating
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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Recent Examples of ceding
Boulee gave the two parties a deadline to agree on a mediator and come to the table, but with the deadline approaching, officials say neither side was ceding any ground.
—
Dan Raby, CBS News, 16 Mar. 2026
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
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
But Scrubs builds the new cast members into each episode bit by bit, ceding a little more narrative ground to them with each episode rather than immediately overwhelming their caseload.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 5 Mar. 2026
The latest cliff-hanger, which saw Netflix ceding the bidding war to Paramount late Thursday, had Hollywood and the media worlds agog.
—Rebecca Keegan, NBC news, 27 Feb. 2026
African democracies are faltering, some ceding ground to Russia and China.
—Alexanderia Baker-Haidara, semafor.com, 27 Feb. 2026
Critics questioned whether the company was selling out by ceding to OpenAI so quickly.
—Eva Roytburg, Fortune, 19 Feb. 2026
Jackson stepped down as president of Rainbow/PUSH in 2023, ceding the reins to a Dallas pastor who left less than a year later.
—Bob Goldsborough, Chicago Tribune, 17 Feb. 2026
Dan Raby, CBS News, 16 Mar. 2026
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
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
But Scrubs builds the new cast members into each episode bit by bit, ceding a little more narrative ground to them with each episode rather than immediately overwhelming their caseload.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 5 Mar. 2026
The latest cliff-hanger, which saw Netflix ceding the bidding war to Paramount late Thursday, had Hollywood and the media worlds agog.
—Rebecca Keegan, NBC news, 27 Feb. 2026
African democracies are faltering, some ceding ground to Russia and China.
—Alexanderia Baker-Haidara, semafor.com, 27 Feb. 2026
Critics questioned whether the company was selling out by ceding to OpenAI so quickly.
—Eva Roytburg, Fortune, 19 Feb. 2026
Jackson stepped down as president of Rainbow/PUSH in 2023, ceding the reins to a Dallas pastor who left less than a year later.
—Bob Goldsborough, Chicago Tribune, 17 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ceding
Verb
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With concerns growing about a global energy crisis, an Iranian official said Tehran had no intention of relinquishing its tight grip on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for oil.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
18 Mar. 2026
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With concerns growing about a global energy crisis, an Iranian official said Tehran had no intention of relinquishing its tight grip on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for oil.—
Jon Gambrell,
Chicago Tribune,
17 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Initially, that rule applied only to players transferring for the first time.—
Peter Sblendorio,
New York Daily News,
27 Mar. 2026
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His mother, Evelyn Diaz, said her son was present at a meeting with school administrators where staff openly discussed transferring him out.—
Andrew Ramos,
CBS News,
27 Mar. 2026
Verb
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In its most hostile version, the same qualities are recast as evidence of his succumbing to spectacle and abdicating basic architectural responsibility.—
Julian Rose,
Artforum,
26 Mar. 2026
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Democratic leaders have accused Congress of abdicating its constitutional role, and some members plan to boycott the address or attend in silent protest.—
Nik Popli,
Time,
23 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Minutes later, officers began giving Gooden directions on surrendering.—
WCCO Staff,
CBS News,
24 Mar. 2026
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As the system grows increasingly confident in its predictive logic, a conflict emerges between an AI that relies on statistical certainty and humans who resist surrendering moral judgment to algorithms.—
Lin Ying-Hsuan,
Variety,
18 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Voters, in approving adding gambling to the state constitution, approved language assigning up to 15,000 slot machines divided between those facilities.—
Bryan P. Sears,
Baltimore Sun,
25 Mar. 2026
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The Muddy Waters report also alleges that SoFi has been assigning the wrong discount rate to its student loan portfolio—essentially overvaluing it—as well as understating its exposure to loans in default.—
Jeff John Roberts,
Fortune,
25 Mar. 2026
Verb
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This led to 60-some staff members resigning from the paper.—
Rick Kogan,
Chicago Tribune,
17 Mar. 2026
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Jackson had been looking to return to Congress after resigning in 2012, and was hoping voters will give him another chance despite his conviction on federal charges.—
Todd Feurer,
CBS News,
17 Mar. 2026
Verb
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This demo showed off a graphics-rendering task (an aquarium full of fish, whose frame rates and swimming action were directly affected by the availability of system resources).—
John Burek,
PC Magazine,
25 Mar. 2026
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The game was about rendering a person with a limited palette of supplies.—
Eric Boodman,
Vulture,
25 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Effectively, Newsom’s slow roll protects him from taking any meaningful actions, thus bequeathing reparations to his successor, like his many other unresolved California issues.—
Dan Walters,
Mercury News,
22 Oct. 2025
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Rewriting society’s decision-making Unlike biased pundits who hem, haw and hedge their bets, Web3 prediction markets cut through noise, bequeathing a signal that feeds into pricing mechanisms themselves.—
Atharva Gosavi,
Interesting Engineering,
17 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Ceding.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ceding. Accessed 29 Mar. 2026.
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