• IPA: /sɛs/

cess (plural cesses)

1. (British, Ireland) An assessed tax, duty, or levy.
2. (British, Ireland, informal) Luck or success, typically in an unfavourable context, as in "bad cess to...". More rarely in a favourable sense such as "good cess to..."
3. (obsolete) Bound; measure.
   • c. 1597, William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act II, scene i]:

     The poor jade is wrung in the withers out of all cess.

cess (cesses, present participle cessing; past and past participle cessed)

1. (British, Ireland) To levy a cess.

cess (plural cesses)

1. (rail transport) The area along either side of a railroad track which is kept at a lower level than the sleeper bottom, in order to provide drainage.
2. (obsolete, dialect) A bog, in particular a peat bog.
3. (obsolete, dialect) A piece of peat, or a turf, particularly when dried for use as fuel.

cess (cesses, present participle cessing; past and past participle cessed)

1. (obsolete, legal) To cease; to neglect.