ceding

verb

present participle of cede
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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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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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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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of ceding The Democrats were ceding ground on immigration and deeply divided on Israel’s war in Gaza. — Benjamin Wallace-Wells, New Yorker, 18 Oct. 2026 For the rest of the show, Love sat in place, singing along but ceding his usual lead vocals and master of ceremonies roles to others. — Chris Willman, Variety, 12 Oct. 2026 That war of wills ended with the Emirates ceding control of Bab el-Mandeb — along with the nearby island of Perim, where the Emirates had built a drone airbase — to Saudi Arabia. — Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times, 27 Sep. 2026 For founder-CEOs, ceding authority can be especially challenging. — Adi Ignatius, Harvard Business Review, 18 Sep. 2026 Trump, though, has warned of a slowdown in AI development ceding the technological arms race to China. — Ted Johnson, Deadline, 14 Sep. 2026 Payton still drew votes despite ceding play-calling duties this season to offensive coordinator Davis Webb. — Jeff Howe, New York Times, 4 Sep. 2026 After ceding its lead, first to Red Bull and then to McLaren, his team is atop the standings again and favored to win the 2026 season. — Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, semafor.com, 21 Aug. 2026 But an industry that can only reliably fill seats for a dozen event-scale releases a year, while quietly ceding everything else to streaming, is not a healthy industry putting on a growth spurt. — Olivia Shalhoup, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ceding
  1. relinquishing
  2. transferring
  3. abdicating
  4. surrendering
  5. assigning
  6. resigning
  7. rendering
  8. bequeathing
Verb
  • With all the characters in the show, there’s an exploration of losing control, taking control and relinquishing control, and Chris experiences all of those.
    — Lexy Perez, HollywoodReporter, 19 Oct. 2026
  • One panel was falling, then smashing on the path, lead relinquishing its long grip on the glass.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 22 Sep. 2026
Definition of relinquishing
Verb
  • The route next year was unveiled on Thursday, with the Tour starting from Scotland capital Edinburgh on a rare Grand Depart on a Friday — July 2 — and then going to England and Wales before transferring to France until July 25.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 22 Oct. 2026
  • Meanwhile, al-Ali held several meetings with Saudi officers at the Defense Ministry in Riyadh to discuss the costs of transferring around 10,000 fighters, financial arrangements, additional benefits and their intended military tasks.
    — Khaled Wassef, CBS News, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of transferring
Verb
  • Despite everything, Harald never considered abdicating the throne.
    — Stefania Conrieri, Vanity Fair, 28 Aug. 2026
  • This is what the impeachment process was designed for, to remove public officials abdicating their responsibilities.
    — New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of abdicating
Verb
  • The Steel Curtain is back, surrendering just six TD passes all season.
    — Bill Reinhard, New York Daily News, 22 Oct. 2026
  • Tehran fears that surrendering its maritime leverage first would invite fresh demands; Washington worries that easing pressure would reward coercion without securing lasting constraints on Iran’s nuclear program.
    — Ali Vaez, Time, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of surrendering
Verb
  • Not just assigning routine work but actually delegating critical tasks.
    — Volen Vulkov, Forbes.com, 20 Oct. 2026
  • The question of what constitutes an official announcement is resolved by the SEC declaring a company's S-1 effective, an IPO pricing or an exchange assigning a ticker to the stock.
    — Davis Giangiulio, CNBC, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of assigning
Verb
  • Mathews arrives in Pittsburgh after resigning from a similar position in the city of Portland, under investigation for spending more than $100,000 in public money for personal expenses on trips to professional conferences.
    — Andy Sheehan, CBS News, 22 Oct. 2026
  • Eventually, committee members discussed dissolving the committee or resigning from the board if Zuckerberg wouldn’t make concessions for the benefit of all Class A shareholders.
    — Amanda Gerut, Fortune, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of resigning
Verb
  • Halo 4, 5, and Infinite used sci-fi nonsense to transform him into this larger-than-life figure, rendering the rest of the UNSC largely powerless in the process.
    — Fran Ruiz, Space.com, 23 Oct. 2026
  • Earlier this year, Alta began powering all AI within Rent the Runway’s app—and Rent the Runway saw a 35% increase in engagement after integrating Alta’s styling and rendering capabilities.
    — Emma Hinchliffe, Fortune, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of rendering
Verb
  • As temple members met their gruesome death, documents bequeathing some $7 million to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union were spirited out of Jonestown in a suitcase stuffed with cash.
    — James Kirchick, The Atlantic, 13 Aug. 2026
  • William inherited the piece after her death in 1997, eventually bequeathing it to his wife.
    — Hannah Malach, InStyle, 17 June 2026
Definition of bequeathing

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cede (to)
ceding
ceding (to)
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Cite this Entry

“Ceding.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ceding. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

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