smother
Americanverb (used with object)
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to stifle or suffocate, as by smoke or other means of preventing free breathing.
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to extinguish or deaden (fire, coals, etc.) by covering so as to exclude air.
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to cover closely or thickly; envelop.
to smother a steak with mushrooms.
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to suppress or repress.
to smother feelings.
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Cooking. to steam (food) slowly in a heavy, tightly closed vessel with a minimum of liquid.
smothered chicken and onions.
verb (used without object)
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to become stifled or suffocated; be prevented from breathing.
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to be stifled; be suppressed or concealed.
noun
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dense, stifling smoke.
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a smoking or smoldering state, as of burning matter.
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dust, fog, spray, etc., in a dense or enveloping cloud.
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an overspreading profusion of anything.
a smother of papers.
verb
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to suffocate or stifle by cutting off or being cut off from the air
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(tr) to surround (with) or envelop (in)
he smothered her with love
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(tr) to extinguish (a fire) by covering so as to cut it off from the air
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to be or cause to be suppressed or stifled
smother a giggle
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(tr) to cook or serve (food) thickly covered with sauce, etc
noun
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anything, such as a cloud of smoke, that stifles
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a profusion or turmoil
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archaic a state of smouldering or a smouldering fire
Other Word Forms
- half-smothered adjective
- smotherable adjective
- smothery adjective
- unsmotherable adjective
- unsmothered adjective
- unsmothering adjective
Etymology
Origin of smother
1125–75; (noun) Middle English smorther dense smoke; akin to Old English smorian to suffocate; (v.) Middle English smo ( r ) theren, 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.
In rockpools, starfish, limpets and other wildlife were smothered - while Pembrokeshire's fishing industry was brought to a standstill for more than 18 months.
From BBC
Seattle’s smothering defense preventing New England from ever getting on track in the game at Levi Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., was more appreciated by serious football fans than casual watchers.
From Los Angeles Times
A short, sharp wail, immediately smothered, broke from her.
From Literature
Retreating to a personal Walden, he suggests, may smother creativity rather than fuel it.
Door smothered a laugh and Coal ducked his head to hide his smirk.
From Literature
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.
