extinguish
Americanverb (used with object)
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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
- extinguishable adjective
- extinguisher noun
- extinguishment noun
- nonextinguishable adjective
- nonextinguished adjective
- preextinguish verb (used with object)
- preextinguishment noun
- self-extinguishing adjective
- unextinguishable adjective
- unextinguished adjective
Etymology
Origin of extinguish
1535–45; < Latin ex ( s ) tingu ( ere ) ( ex- ex- 1 + stinguere to quench) + -ish 2
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.
If firefighters hadn’t been ordered to leave a New Year’s Day fire before all the embers were extinguished, would flames have flared up on the same spot amid hurricane-force winds on Jan. 7, 2025?
From Los Angeles Times
Carse swiped 16 to finally extinguish any suggestion of an early finish, dragging this series into one more day.
From BBC
Moore said the department “genuinely believed the fire was fully extinguished.”
From Los Angeles Times
He was transported to the hospital in stable condition while 70 firefighters worked to extinguish the stubborn fire.
From Los Angeles Times
Firefighters quickly extinguished the blaze, but about 45,500 households and 2,200 businesses in districts in southwest Berlin were left without power, according to grid operator Stromnetz Berlin.
From Barron's
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
