Both Uses of
cease
in
Burned, by Ellen Hopkins
- As a stalwart Mormon high school junior, drilled ceaselessly about the dire catastrophe awaiting thosewho harbored impure thoughts, I had never kissed a boy, had never even considered that I might enjoy such an unclean thing, until literature opened my eyes.†
ceaselessly = in a manner that does not stopstandard suffix: The suffix "-less" in ceaselessly means without. This is the same pattern you see in words like fearless, homeless, and endless.
- Fireworks: Gold Red Silver Blue Green sprays haze beauty rise eyes high sky heaven stuns Ethan's faze plays designs mind find sight light perfect divine mine inspire desire blessed flow reveal releasing unceasing increasing loveEthan Drove Me Home.†
*unceasing = not stopping or discontinuingstandard prefix: The prefix "un-" in unceasing means not and reverses the meaning of ceasing. This is the same pattern you see in words like unhappy, unknown, and unlucky.
Definitions:
-
(1)
(cease) to stop or discontinue
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
Note that the expression, cease fire means to stop doing battle such as firing funs at each other. Similarly, the noun, cease-fire, is a state of having stopped doing battle.