smother

The effect of the law has been to smother any public discussion about the monarchy.

From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2026

Instead, he said, lawmakers needed to be careful to “not smother American innovation.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026

We’ve been able to ruthlessly and mostly successfully smother the group from threatening the U.S. mainland and American interests abroad.

From Slate ● Apr. 21, 2026

The challenge for policymakers, then, is to resist the temptation to smother AI with fear.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 10, 2025

She had no idea whether her body would contain the explosion, whether her cloak could smother the flames, but it was her best chance to save her friends and her mission.

From "Blood of Olympus" by Rick Riordan

L.A.’s heat-seeking “Showtime” franchise is obsessed over more than any other, in good times and especially troubled ones, to the point where it smothers other NBA coverage and drives many fans nuts.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2025

The soil burns and sloughs off, leading to massive post-fire erosion that smothers coral, impacts fisheries and reduces the quality of the ocean water, she said.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 10, 2023

Lipsyte knows that all punk rockers are reverse snobs, who decry conservatory-trained musicians as “smug skill-bullies” and bark sloppy, shambolic rants against … well, even Jack himself isn’t sure, as “irony smothers our politics.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 1, 2022

But some asteroids occupy corners of the sky in which the sun’s glare smothers them, and, like embers flitting in front of a thermonuclear bonfire, they fade from view.

From New York Times ● Oct. 31, 2022

Agent Fiona smothers a laugh as Agent Magnus goes red.

From "Amari and the Night Brothers" by B.B. Alston

On the plate, it’s a half pound of Wagyu brisket smothered in pickles and Mornay sauce, all cradled in freshly made pita bread.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026

Workers sweated in choking heat and pupils stayed home on Tuesday as an early-summer heatwave smothered much of Europe, sparking health warnings.

From Barron's ● Jun. 23, 2026

He has added gold trim to the crown molding, smothered the walls with gold-framed artworks and gold-painted embellishments, placed inch-thick gold coasters on the desk, and lined up gold urns on the mantel.

From Slate ● Jun. 11, 2026

It wouldn’t be easy, but he knew the products well: He had grown up eating hot dogs smothered in Heinz ketchup at Yankees games as a kid.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 27, 2026

She gives Chicho a huge helping of black beans and a huge mound of white rice and fried steak smothered with fried onions, and an entire plate of sweet fried plantains.

From "Lucky Broken Girl" by Ruth Behar

Oil spills can cause immediate deaths of marine animals and other organisms, for example by physically trapping turtles, smothering the feathers of seabirds or damaging the gills of fish.

From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026

Ms. Cline inhabits his thoughts in close third-person and though she writes in the past tense, her narration evokes an intimate, sometimes smothering feeling of presentness—of being confined within David’s immediate consciousness.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026

Some species may have acted as fire ladders, helping flames move through the landscape while also crowding out and smothering other vegetation.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 22, 2026

And a smothering Iranian defense that frequently packed seven players in the box added to that frustration Sunday.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 21, 2026

Calakmul's inhabitants had cut a little divot into its flanks for their city, but now the vegetation, massive and indifferent, was smothering every trace of their existence.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann