Meaning & use
cede
Last updated
Meanings
verbtransitiveformal
To hand over land, power, or a right to someone else, usually as part of an agreement or because you have been forced to.
Grammar: Takes an object: cede the territory; the receiver is introduced with to.
Patterns
- cede something to someone
- cede something
After the war, the defeated country had to cede a strip of coastland to its neighbor.
The founder agreed to cede control of the company to the new board.
Neither side was willing to cede any ground during the talks.
verbtransitive
To admit, in a sports or political contest, that you have lost something, such as a point, a lead, or a position.
Grammar: Takes an object: cede the lead; often used in news reports.
Patterns
- cede the lead
- cede a point to someone
The champion ceded the lead on the final lap.
She refused to cede the point, even though the evidence was against her.
The party ceded several seats in the northern districts at the election.
Word forms
| third person singular | cedes |
|---|---|
| past tense | ceded |
| past participle | ceded |
| -ing form | ceding |
Common combinations
- cede territory
- The treaty forced the kingdom to cede territory to its rival.
- cede control
- He was reluctant to cede control of the project.
- cede ground
- The team refused to cede ground in the second half.
- cede power
- The president promised to cede power peacefully after the vote.
- cede the floor
- The senator ceded the floor to her colleague.
Synonyms and how they differ
- surrender
- Surrender suggests giving in completely, often in a fight, whereas cede is usually a formal handing over of something specific.
- yield
- Yield is more general and softer, and can mean simply giving way, while cede stresses transferring ownership or authority.
- relinquish
- Relinquish means letting go of a possession or claim, and does not require a recipient the way cede normally does.
- concede
- Concede is about admitting a point or defeat, while cede is about handing over something tangible or a right.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: cede or seed? cede or secede?
cede vs seed
Seed is the small plant part that grows into a new plant. It sounds the same as cede but has nothing to do with giving something up.
cede vs secede
Secede means to break away from a group or country, while cede means to hand something over to someone.
Practice
After losing the battle, the kingdom was forced to ____ the border region to its neighbor.
Choose one answer.
Cede means to hand over land to another party. Secede is tempting but means to break away yourself, and seed is only a sound-alike.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “cede”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.