smolder

or smoul·der

[ smohl-der ]
See synonyms for: smoldersmoldering on Thesaurus.com

verb (used without object)
  1. to burn without flame; undergo slow or suppressed combustion.

  2. to exist or continue in a suppressed state or without outward demonstration: Hatred smoldered beneath a polite surface.

  1. to display repressed feelings, as of indignation, anger, or the like: to smolder with rage.

noun
  1. dense smoke resulting from slow or suppressed combustion.

  2. a smoldering fire.

Origin of smolder

1
1275–1325; (noun) Middle English smolder smoky vapor, dissimilated variant of smorthersmother; (v.) Middle English (as present participle smolderende), derivative of the noun

Other words from smolder

  • un·smol·der·ing, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use smolder in a sentence

  • But that spark which he had tried in vain to fan into flame still smoldered.

    The Range Boss | Charles Alden Seltzer
  • At last the candles snuffed out, and naught but the back log smoldered and glowed in the darkness.

    The Green Forest Fairy Book | Loretta Ellen Brady
  • As a fire that has smoldered long flames up in many places at once, so the war broke out with several actions in quick succession.

    Four American Indians | Edson L. Whitney
  • Dressed in the habit of his order, the Prior sat before a pile of logs that smoldered in the huge fireplace.

    Rescue Dog of the High Pass | James Arthur Kjelgaard

British Dictionary definitions for smolder

smolder

/ (ˈsməʊldə) /


verb, noun
  1. the US spelling of smoulder

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012