smolder
verb (used without object)
to burn without flame; undergo slow or suppressed combustion.
smoldered
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past participleof smolder.past participle
A verb form used in perfect and passive verb constructions and that can also function as a modifier.
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past tense formof smolder.past tense
Used to describe completed actions or previous habitual actions.
smolderverb (used without object)to burn without flame; undergo slow or suppressed combustion.
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.
Almost two years after a massive battery fire in Monterey County displaced 1,200 people and smoldered for days, spewing toxic gas into the air, the same facility is burning again.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
The WSJ Logistics Report’s Liz Young writes that the fire started June 17 at the 500,000-square-foot, temperature-controlled warehouse in the Boyle Heights neighborhood and smoldered for days.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
The Lachman fire smoldered underground for a week before exploding into the deadly Palisades fire on Jan. 7, 2025.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2026
The blaze, which firefighters had said was contained hours later, smoldered underground in dense vegetation for days until powerful winds on Jan. 7 caused it to spread, authorities said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2025
And gone are virtually all the boomtowns that smoldered from morning until night.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
