SYNONYMS | EXAMPLES | WORD ORIGIN verb (used with object) to put out (a fire, light, etc.); put out the flame of (something burning or lighted): to extinguish a candle.
to put an end to or bring to an end; wipe out of existence; annihilate: to extinguish hope.
to obscure or eclipse, as by superior brilliance.
Law to discharge (a debt), as by payment.
Origin of extinguish 1535–45; <
Latin ex(s)tingu(ere ) (
ex- ex-1 +
stinguere to quench) +
-ish2 Related forms ex·tin·guish·a·ble , adjective ex·tin·guish·ment , noun non·ex·tin·guish·a·ble , adjective non·ex·tin·guished , adjective pre·ex·tin·guish , verb (used with object) pre·ex·tin·guish·ment , noun self-ex·tin·guish·ing , adjective un·ex·tin·guish·a·ble , adjective un·ex·tin·guished , adjective Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Related Words for extinguish quench ,
smother ,
suffocate ,
douse ,
annihilate ,
exterminate ,
suppress ,
obliterate ,
quell ,
erase ,
eliminate ,
abate ,
destroy ,
eradicate ,
trample ,
drown ,
stifle ,
choke ,
out ,
end Examples from the Web for extinguish Contemporary Examples of extinguish These habits are likely to be hard to extinguish entirely.
I like the taste of it as well once you extinguish the flame.
They remembered that the escaped owner had only recently tried to extinguish their capital with blood.
Amid the sound of screaming and the smell of burning, he tried to extinguish the fire with prayer mats.
Q: His healthcare reform will extinguish all freedom and literally sentence our seniors to death.
Historical Examples of extinguish I sprang to my feet and took immediate measures to extinguish the flames.
It would be well to extinguish the fire, and have a watch—listen!
The villagers were summoned to extinguish fires by ringing of bells.
Jealousy evermore blows the flame it seems formed to extinguish .
But should a “holy alliance of legitimates” extinguish it, it will be but for a season.
British Dictionary definitions for extinguish verb (tr) to put out or quench (a light, flames, etc)
to remove or destroy entirely; annihilate
archaic to eclipse or obscure by or as if by superior brilliance
law to discharge (a debt)
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Derived Forms extinguishable , adjective extinguisher , noun extinguishment , noun Word Origin for extinguish C16: from Latin exstinguere, from stinguere to quench
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
Word Origin and History for extinguish v. c.1500 (implied in extinguishable ), from Latin extinguere /exstinguere "quench, wipe out, obliterate," from ex- "out" (see ex- ) + stinguere "quench," from PIE *steig- "to prick, stick, pierce." Related: Extinguished ; extinguishing .
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
extinguish [ĭk-stĭng′ gwĭsh]
n. To bring about the extinction of a conditioned response.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
