Meaning

Cessation; stop, stopping; end. Respite, intermission..

Definitions by Sense

1. Cessation; stop, stopping; end. Respite, intermission.
2. (intransitive) To come to an end; to desist.
3. (transitive) To bring to an end.

Example Sentences

And first of all, it is more then time, there were an ende and surcease made of this immodest and deformed manner of writting latelie entertained, whereby matter of religion is handled in the stile of the stage.

It it were done when ’tis done, then ’twere well / It were done quickly: if the assassination / Could trammel up the consequence, and catch / With his surcease success;

[…] vainly I had sought to borrow / From my books surcease of sorrow

[…] old age is still old age. It is the waning, not the crescent moon, The dusk of evening, not the blaze of noon: It is not strength, but weakness; not desire, But its surcease; not the fierce heat of fire, The burning and consuming element, But that of ashes and of embers spent […]

[…] the time came when he sickened of the whole affair, and withdrew his agent, and took whatever gain from it the actor apportioned him. He was apt to have these sudden surceases, following upon the intensities of his earlier interest […]

[Joe Stork, delivering a baby via taxiplane:] Why should I wear my wings out, when modern ingenuity offers surcease?

For the individual who wishes to live in his time, to be a part of the future, the super-industrial revolution offers no surcease from change.

1899, Zénaïde A. Ragozin, Frithjof, The Viking of Norway in Frithjof, The Viking of Norway and Roland, The Paladin of France, Tales of the Heroic Ages, New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, Chapter 9, p. 67, And instantly the storm surceases, the heavens clear, the sun comes forth in splendour, as a king entering the audience-hall, and sheds the glory of his presence over ship and sea and land.

Word Forms

• surceases
• surceasing
• surceased

Synonyms for surcease

Related Words

When Should You Use Surcease?

Use surcease when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

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