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I'm currently writing an academic paper. It involves the neverending cycle of human evilness in our hearts. I was looking for a word that breaks such "eternity" like

unless we dare ourselves to (word) the eternal cycle of stepping on others . . .

was looking for a word something powerful and perfect for that kind of sentence.

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    The commonest collocation is "To break a cycle."
    – Greybeard
    Apr 20, 2020 at 8:24
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    Before settling on the verb, you might consider the more standard expression ‘VICIOUS cycle’. That being said, Greybeard’s is the common verb to use.
    – Tuffy
    Apr 20, 2020 at 9:05
  • Reverse the eternal cycle is another possibility. Apr 20, 2020 at 10:54
  • The first comment here is correct. Addicts break the cycle of dependence, and domestic victims break the cycle of abuse. It's not clear why you don't like using that phrase. If you want something more poetic, you will need to give more information. Apr 21, 2020 at 19:34

2 Answers 2

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If you want to use something more dramatic than break the cycle then you could use escape the cycle. It hints that the cycle is a trap while adequately conveying your meaning.

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  • This is a good suggestion, but there is a subtle difference. Escape is done by those in the cycle. Break can be done from within or from without. th of us with privledged lives can help others escape the cycle lf poverty
    – Damila
    Apr 21, 2020 at 5:36
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How about terminate (M-W)?

terminate: to bring to an end

Your sentence:

... unless we dare ourselves to terminate the eternal cycle of stepping on others ...

I assume you don't want only to break the cycle, but to terminate or end it.

End is another possibility worth considering, as is reverse, which is even more aspirational than terminating or ending.

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