Did you know?
Do you cede or seed control?
Cede means "to yield or grant typically by treaty." Most of the verb senses of seed are concerned with planting seeds (either literal, as of plants, or figuratively, as of ideas). However, the word may also be used to mean "to schedule (tournament players or teams) so that superior ones will not meet in early rounds." If you relinquish or yield something you are ceding it, and if you are organizing the participants in a tournament you are seeding them.
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.
Synonyms
Examples of cede in a Sentence
Daryna Mayer, NBC News, 12 Apr. 2024
That is an excellent way to cede the initiative, and ultimately power, to the other party.
—The Editors, National Review, 11 Apr. 2024
In the second half, however, Portland won the possession battle despite ceding most of the final 10 minutes after pulling even.
—Daniel Sperry, Kansas City Star, 7 Apr. 2024
Ukraine aid Ukrainian forces would have to cede further territory to Russia if US military aid does not arrive soon, President Volodymyr Zelensky warned in his latest appeal to Congress.
—Alexandra Banner, CNN, 1 Apr. 2024
Never colonized Santa Lucia stands side by side with Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church on what were the first 40 acres ceded to the Pascua Yaquis by the federal government.
—Jose R. Gonzalez, The Arizona Republic, 30 Mar. 2024
Monitor reporters witnessed multiple instances in which disputes arose over the entry of certain individuals, in which the Israeli police stopped them and then referred them to Waqf staff just past the door – ceding the matter to the Islamic authority.
—Taylor Luck, The Christian Science Monitor, 21 Mar. 2024
With his economic agenda, Biden has sought to address the driving factors behind America’s industrial decline, caused in large part by competition ceded to Southeast Asia in the 1980s and 2000s, as companies left for cheaper labor or automated technology.
—Akayla Gardner, Fortune, 20 Mar. 2024
The Philippines became a colony of the United States in 1899 after Spain ceded control of its longtime territory to Washington as part of the settlement of the Spanish-American war.
—Brad Lendon, CNN, 8 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'cede.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Cede.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cede. Accessed 25 Apr. 2024.
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cede
verb
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