truce
/truːs/ (bre, ipa) · /truːs/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈtrüs/ (ame, mw)
truce — noun
- trucesingular
- trucesplural
1. a deal between two sides who have been fighting or arguing, where both agree to
a deal between two sides who have been fighting or arguing, where both agree to pause the fighting for a set period, or the period of calm that follows from such a deal.
The two armies agreed to a brief truce so doctors could carry the wounded off the battlefield.
agree to a truce + purpose clause
Jude and his sister called a truce after weeks of arguing over the bathroom rota.
informal: call a truce after dispute
The truce between the rebels and the government lasted only three days before fighting resumed.
Defne suggested a truce in the family WhatsApp group so dinner could pass without another shouting match.
During the Christmas truce of 1914, British and German soldiers shook hands across the trenches.
- hostilities
the active fighting that a truce pauses
文法句型
call a truce
declare a truce
truce between X and Y
用法筆記
Frequently appears with the verbs 'call', 'declare', 'agree to', 'break', and 'hold'. Used for both serious military pauses and lighter, domestic stand-downs in an argument.
常見錯誤
truce — verb
- trucepresent simple I / you / we / they
- truces3rd person singular
- trucing-ing form
- trucedpast simple
1. to agree to stop a fight or quarrel for a while, usually with the other side.
to agree to stop a fight or quarrel for a while, usually with the other side.
The two clans finally truced after Isabela's grandmother walked between the houses with bread and salt.
truce + after-clause
Workers and managers truced for the holiday week so the factory could ship the year-end orders.
truced for + period
The two rival fishing villages truced for a season when storms wrecked both harbours.
Nadia and Kenji truced over coffee after a long week of office emails neither would call kind.
- make peace
more common; everyday phrasing for the same idea
- reconcile
broader; can apply to people repairing a personal relationship
- fight on
to keep the conflict going
文法句型
truce with somebody
用法筆記
Very rare in modern English; readers will usually meet the noun 'a truce' plus 'call/declare'. When the verb does appear it is intransitive and slightly literary.
常見錯誤
2. to bring a fight or quarrel to a close by agreeing on a pause, so that the confl
to bring a fight or quarrel to a close by agreeing on a pause, so that the conflict ends in an agreed halt rather than a clear winner.
The mediators hoped to truce the border dispute before the rainy season made the roads impassable.
truce + dispute object
Ilan tried to truce the long quarrel between his cousins by inviting them both to dinner.
truce + named conflict
By the autumn of 1813 the local lords had truced their feud, though no side had truly won.
Christopher hoped a shared meal would truce the bitter argument between the two neighbours.
- prolong
to keep the conflict going
文法句型
truce something
用法筆記
Distinguish from sense 1: this transitive use takes a conflict noun as its object ('truce the dispute / feud / quarrel'). Sense 1 is intransitive — two parties truce with each other, without naming the fight.