English Dictionary
Definition of “smother”
smother (ˈsmʌðə
)
Definitions
verb
- to suffocate or stifle by cutting off or being cut off from the air
- (tr) to surround (with) or envelop (in) ⇒
he smothered her with love
- (tr) to extinguish (a fire) by covering so as to cut it off from the air
- to be or cause to be suppressed or stifled ⇒
smother a giggle
- (tr) to cook or serve (food) thickly covered with sauce, etc
noun
- anything, such as a cloud of smoke, that stifles
- a profusion or turmoil
- archaic a state of smouldering or a smouldering fire
Alternative Forms
ˈsmothery adjective Word Origin
Old English smorian to suffocate; related to Middle Low German smōren
Usage examples
His shoulders heaved as he tried to smother the dry, racking sobs he could no longer contain.
Hinxman, Margaret, The Sound of Murder (1986)In a supply-sensitive market, a gold rush could smother prices.
Business Today (2000)They stalk prey and smother it on the ocean floor like a blanket.
The Mercury, Sunday Tasmanian (2005)However, Lambert is just the man to smother the threat of Deco.
Glasgow Herald (2001)Get them close to the river and smother those bastards with fire.
Bernard Cornwell, SHARPE'S TRAFALGAR (2001)
