smolder
or smoul·der
[ smohl-der ]
/ ˈsmoʊl dər /
verb (used without object)
to burn without flame; undergo slow or suppressed combustion.
to exist or continue in a suppressed state or without outward demonstration: Hatred smoldered beneath a polite surface.
to display repressed feelings, as of indignation, anger, or the like: to smolder with rage.
noun
dense smoke resulting from slow or suppressed combustion.
a smoldering fire.
RELATED WORDS
explode, fester, erupt, seethe, boil, consume, bubble, fume, fulminate, smoke, ferment, churn, stir, steam
Nearby words
- smoky hill river,
- smoky mountains,
- smoky quartz,
- smoky river,
- smoky topaz,
- smolensk,
- smollett,
- smollett, tobias george,
- smolt,
- smooch
Origin of smolder
1275–1325; (noun) Middle English smolder smoky vapor, dissimilated variant of smorther smother; (v.) Middle English (as present participle smolderende), derivative of the noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for smolder
smolder
/ (ˈsməʊldə) /
verb, noun
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
smolder
c.1300 (implied in smoldering), "to smother, suffocate," related to Middle Dutch smolen, Low German smelen, Flemish smoel "hot," from Proto-Germanic *smel-, *smul-. The intransitive meaning "burn and smoke without flame" is first recorded 1520s, fell from use 17c. (though smoldering persisted in poetry) and was revived 19c. Figurative sense "exist in a suppressed state; burn inwardly" is from 1810. Related: Smouldered; smolderingly. Middle English also had a noun smolder meaning "smoky vapor, a stifling smoke."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper