smolder
Americanverb (used without object)
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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.
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to display repressed feelings, as of indignation, anger, or the like.
to smolder with rage.
noun
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dense smoke resulting from slow or suppressed combustion.
-
a smoldering fire.
verb
Other Word Forms
- unsmoldering adjective
Etymology
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
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.
A Times investigation later found that firefighters were ordered to leave the smoldering burn site, instead of monitoring the burn area for reignitions.
From Los Angeles Times
When she got there, the arrivals hall dating back to the 19th century was smoldering.
“Wildfires tend to smolder for long periods of time,” Araujo testified.
From Los Angeles Times
What a mess, and the story is likely to smolder into the new year.
From Los Angeles Times
Why was an earlier Palisades fire allowed to smolder until it sparked the inferno that wiped out the town?
From Los Angeles Times
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.
