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:
Monday and took more than four hours to extinguish — or so crews thought.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 10, 2026
These blazes are difficult to extinguish because they burn underground when the normally water-logged ecosystems are dried out for cultivation.
From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 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
Another fire for the ground teams to extinguish.
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026
What had begun as an initiative to put slavery on the road to extinction had been transformed into a decision to extinguish all federal plans for emancipation.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
Today, I bring your attention to the Colorado Supreme Court, which this month reaffirmed an inexplicable quirk of its excessive sentencing jurisprudence that preemptively extinguishes constitutional rights for entire categories of people.
From Slate ● Dec. 29, 2025
When they die, the step-up in basis extinguishes the prior capital gains liability forever, leaving only a tax on any gains for the heirs reaped starting from the date of their inheritance.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 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
“We can eradicate this insidious disease that decimates communities and extinguishes lives far too soon.”
From Washington Times ● Sep. 15, 2023
Cressida’s voice snaps me back to reality, extinguishes me.
From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins
Vista Equity Partners, which acquired the company in 2016, had planned an initial public offering in 2024 that would have repaid or extinguished the debt, but the deal failed to launch.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026
A tree near the building entrance briefly caught fire before firefighters extinguished it.
From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 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
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
The colored lanterns that had lit the path to the stadium had been extinguished.
From "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire" by J. K. Rowling
In Greater Manchester, fire crews are working to contain a moorland fire near a reservoir, while in Camberley, Hampshire, crews are extinguishing a large heathland fire.
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026
“Basically we’re just out there extinguishing hot spots, making sure that the fire is secure before we’re able to call it 100% and walk away from it,” Cal Fire spokesperson Alison Wilkins said.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 2, 2026
"Emergency services rushed to the scene and found the vehicle completely engulfed in flames. Firefighters carried out rescue and extinguishing operations. A security perimeter was set up," the police statement said.
From Barron's ● Mar. 10, 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
The extinguishing of the light made Penelope cry out in alarm.
From "The Unseen Guest" by Maryrose Wood
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
