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What Does Sever Ties Mean
In business, you may have heard the expression “sever ties” and wondered what it means exactly.
Many expressions and idioms are used in business, and it’s important to know what they mean so you can understand your colleagues.
The expression “sever ties” means to “end a relationship” or to “break off” with someone.
For example, a company may have signed a partnership agreement with another company and is now looking to sever ties.
This means that the two companies no longer wish to remain partners under the contract.
To understand the meaning of “sever ties”, it’s important to understand the words “sever” and “ties”.
Sever Meaning
In English, we use the word “sever” to indicate that we are looking to cut, divide, slice, or break up something.
For example, the woman severed the carrot in two pieces.
You can also use the word sever to refer to an end of a relationship.
For example, the son severed his relationship with his father.
This means that the son ended his relationship with his father.
Ties Meaning
The word ties, in the expression “sever ties”, refers to a special relationship between someone or companies.
You can have a business relationship in many ways.
Business partners have a special relationship as they are partners in the same business.
Companies in a joint venture have a special relationship as they both work to achieve the same objective.
A supplier has a special relationship with its client, who has been doing business for many years.
As you can see, “ties” in business can refer to a broad range of business relationships.
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Using The Expression Sever Ties In Business
Let’s look at how you can use the expression “sever ties” in business.
Example 1:
A large investor in a company decides to sell all of its shares.
The investor may claim that it is looking to “sever ties” with the company (looking to leave the shareholder base of the company).
Example 2:
A partner in a law firm decides to leave for another firm.
The partner will “sever ties” with its current partners and form new relationships at the new firm.
Example 3:
A member of the board in a company resigns.
We can say that the board member decided to sever ties with the company by resigning as a board member.
In other words, the person no longer wants to act as a board member of the company.
Example 4:
The United States has severed ties with Russia.
This means that the United States has ended its diplomatic relations with Russia.
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Alternatives To Sever Ties
There are other expressions that you can use in business to indicate that you are looking to sever ties, namely:
- To cease association with
- To stop working with
- To end the relationship
- To part ways
- To dissociate with
The message that you are looking to convey is that you are ending something or breaking something up.
For example, if two companies are looking to sever contractual ties, you may say that the companies are looking to put an end to their contractual relationship as an alternative.
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Sever Ties Synonyms And Antonyms
Let’s look at a few synonyms for the expression “sever ties”:
- Break up
- Disassociate
- Divide
- Separate
- Decouple
- Cut back
- Disconnect
Some antonyms of sever ties can be:
- Unify
- Join
- Associate
- Engage
- Unite
- Form
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Takeaways
So there you have it folks!
What does it mean to sever ties?
In a nutshell, the phrase “sever ties” means you want to end a relationship or disassociate with someone.
For example, the board members unanimously agreed to sever ties with the company’s largest supplier.
This means that the company’s board agreed to end its business relationship with its largest supplier.
In business, your colleagues, boss, clients, or others may use many business expressions and idioms when communicating with one another.
It’s important that you understand the meaning of the most common expressions used so you understand what’s being said and can adequately respond.
Now that you know the meaning of sever ties in business, good luck with your research!
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