smother

verbextinguish; cover, hide

Word Origin & History

c.1200, "to suffocate with smoke," from smother (n.), earlier smorthre "dense, suffocating smoke" (late 12c.), from stem of Old English smorian "to suffocate, choke, strangle, stifle," cognate with Middle Dutch smoren, German schmoren; possibly connected to smolder. Meaning "to kill by suffocation in any manner" is from 1540s; sense of "to extinguish a fire" is from 1590s. Sense of "stifle, repress" is first recorded 1570s; meaning "to cover thickly (with some substance)" is from 1590s. Related: Smothered; smothering.

Example Sentences for smother

Verloc, whose affair the police has managed to smother so nicely, was mediocre.

Pour it boiling on the cucumbers, and smother them as before.

You would kill her, smother her dead in your arms, before you would give her to—that.

They had gone unheard and unseen, melting, as it were, in the shock and smother of the wave.

His eyebrows and hair were left behind in the smother ...

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Synonyms for smother

verb extinguish; cover, hide

smother

Synonyms for smother

Antonyms for smother

More words related to smother

asphyxiate

black out

blacked out

clobber

clobbered

cloud

smother

Synonyms for smother

Antonyms for smother

More words related to smother

.css-1unrqcp{color:inherit;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}asphyxiate

black out

blacked out

clobber

clobbered

cloud

asphyxiate