extinguish
Americanverb (used with object)
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extinguishes,
present (3rd person singular)
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extinguished,
past participle, past
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extinguishing
present participle
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to put out (a fire, light, etc.); put out the flame of (something burning or lighted).
to extinguish a candle.
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to put an end to or bring to an end; wipe out of existence; annihilate.
to extinguish hope.
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to obscure or eclipse, as by superior brilliance.
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Law. to discharge (a debt), as by payment.
verb
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to put out or quench (a light, flames, etc)
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to remove or destroy entirely; annihilate
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archaic to eclipse or obscure by or as if by superior brilliance
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law to discharge (a debt)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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extinguishernoun
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extinguishmentnoun
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preextinguishmentnoun
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preextinguishverb (used with object)
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extinguishableadjective
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nonextinguishableadjective
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nonextinguishedadjective
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self-extinguishingadjective
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unextinguishableadjective
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unextinguishedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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extinguishsimple
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extinguishessimple
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have extinguishedperfect
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has extinguishedperfect
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am extinguishingprogressive
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are extinguishingprogressive
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is extinguishingprogressive
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have been extinguishingperfect progressive
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has been extinguishingperfect progressive
Past
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extinguishedsimple
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had extinguishedperfect
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was extinguishingprogressive
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were extinguishingprogressive
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had been extinguishingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of extinguish
1535–45; < Latin ex ( s ) tingu ( ere ) ( ex- ex- 1 + stinguere to quench) + -ish 2
Explanation
To extinguish something means to put an end to it, and get rid of it completely. Water can extinguish a fire; nasty smells can extinguish your appetite. Extinguish comes from the Latin word for quench, but while we might think that quenching something, say our thirst, is good, the word extinguish often has sinister overtones. In a genocide, one group tries to extinguish another — too quench their hatred, by killing everyone in the other group.
Vocabulary lists containing extinguish
A Wrinkle in Time
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100 Great Words from "Fahrenheit 451" -- Part I Vocabulary
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The Great Fire
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The service said four firefighters wearing breathing apparatus were deployed to extinguish the blaze, but the occupant managed to safely evacuate the house.
From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026
As Bill Gates implied in his recent interview on “Meet the Press,” AI can’t extinguish everybody, that’s too tall an order.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
The journalist reported seeing firefighters attempting to extinguish a blaze at the energy giant's Riyadh refinery, located south of the capital, while ambulances and police vehicles were stationed near the facility.
From Barron's ● Oct. 3, 2026
Payne instructed Evans that if that happened, she was to grab his arm, pick up the specially engineered torch that would never extinguish and light the fuse ball together.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2026
It was as though a flame had been lit inside him that nothing, not Hermione’s flat disbelief nor Ron’s persistent doubts, could extinguish.
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
And that sensibility extinguishes your ability to imagine anything else.
From Slate ● Jul. 31, 2024
Navy in the 1960s, the foams form an aqueous film around burning gasoline and other flammable liquids, which quickly deprives the fire of oxygen and extinguishes it.
From Science Daily ● May 9, 2024
Cheap, whose driving desire to prove himself completely extinguishes his common sense.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 14, 2023
“Violence extinguishes hope for a just solution to the problems,” the pontiff said.
From Washington Times ● Jan. 22, 2023
Cressida’s voice snaps me back to reality, extinguishes me.
From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins
"Today, the sport mourns the passing of Julieta, a life ahead of her that has been unjustly extinguished".
From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026
Once the fire was extinguished, Lineage was tasked with removing the 89 million pounds of meat and food stored inside as fast as possible before it spoiled in the scorching summer heat.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
He ended that speech saying that Diana would “never be extinguished from our minds,” a line he now says he included as a retort to Charles’s call saying that she would be forgotten.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
It's a line he now says was specifically intended to be a riposte to the other Charles' suggestion that she would quickly be forgotten: Diana "will never be extinguished from our minds".
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026
Like responsible scientists, the children extinguished the burner and put their lab equipment away, but they insisted that Penelope have a taste of their mixture before leaving.
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
"Firefighters are working on extinguishing the fire and assessing patients," it said on X.
From Barron's ● Sep. 6, 2026
Before firefighters had finished extinguishing the blaze, I found Liliya Velyka, a 28-year-old book blogger, raking through the smouldering ruins, seeing if anything could be saved.
From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2026
Mexico had just lost 3-2 to England, extinguishing the hope that it could parlay its World Cup co-host role into the deepest tournament run in the country’s history.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2026
Its title suggests the regime is moving toward national reconciliation by extinguishing the spurious records it created of crimes it claims its opponents committed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 1, 2026
He raised a hand, and the other singers began to move about the cavern, extinguishing the torches one by one.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
