smolder
Americanverb (used without object)
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to burn without flame; undergo slow or suppressed combustion.
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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.
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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.
Aside from McIndoe and Pike, the four other firefighters who testified that they were at the burn scar on Jan. 2 said they did not see smoldering.
From Los Angeles Times
As a result, they may overlook slower, less visible fires that smolder deep within peat and organic soils.
From Science Daily
At 5:47 p.m., a satellite image captured smoldering damage at the compound, which includes a vast mosque, a presidential complex and the Iranian leader’s residence.
At one point, McIndoe said, he came across a smoldering ash pit.
From Los Angeles Times
The Palisades fire was a holdover from the Jan. 1 Lachman fire, which continued to smolder and burn underground until kicked up by heavy winds on Jan. 7.
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.
