silence
Americannoun
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absence of any sound or noise; stillness.
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the state or fact of being silent; muteness.
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absence or omission of mention, comment, or expressed concern.
the conspicuous silence of our newspapers on local graft.
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the state of being forgotten; oblivion.
in the news again after years of silence.
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concealment; secrecy.
verb (used with object)
interjection
noun
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the state or quality of being silent
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the absence of sound or noise; stillness
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refusal or failure to speak, communicate, etc, when expected
his silence on the subject of their promotion was alarming
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a period of time without noise
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oblivion or obscurity
verb
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to bring to silence
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to put a stop to; extinguish
to silence all complaint
Other Word Forms
- oversilence noun
- unsilenced adjective
Etymology
Origin of silence
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English (noun), from Old French, from Latin silentium, derivative of silēre “to be quiet”; silent
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.
“After enough vacations came and went, a cone of silence took hold.”
From Los Angeles Times
The self-proclaimed homebodies share that their ideal quality pastime is rewatching “Grey’s Anatomy” for the third time, sitting together in silence while enjoying cookie milkshakes, or spending a weekend away in nature.
From Los Angeles Times
In the evening, the mother of a victim, Sarah Lampert, addressed the media at the center, saying she wanted to speak for 12-year-old daughter Ticaria who had "a beautiful, strong voice that was silenced."
From Barron's
Along the way they were met by thousands of admirers, who mostly greeted them with reverent silence rather than cheers or applause.
From Salon
"If we remain silent today, tomorrow our children will also learn the same silence," he says.
From BBC
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.
