snuff out

Idioms  

1. Extinguish, put a sudden end to, as in Three young lives were snuffed out in that automobile accident . This usage alludes to snuff in the sense of “put out a candle by pinching the wick,” an area itself called snuff from the late 1300s on. [Mid-1800s]

2. Kill, murder, as in If he told the police, the gang would snuff him out . [ Slang ; first half of 1900s]

3. Also, snuff it . Die or be killed, as in He looked very ill indeed, as though he might snuff out any day , or Grandpa just snuffed it . [ Slang ; second half of 1800s]

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Example Sentences

But they are snuffed out against the backdrop of the war.

From The Wall Street Journal

Freezing temperatures and high home prices snuffed out the sales momentum from previous months.

From The Wall Street Journal

“What typically snuffs out a cycle is 12-month supply growth, and it’s pretty fixed at this point,” Chin says.

From Barron's

The Netherlands forward was impressive and scored the winner from the spot after David Hancko's header made it 2-2 in the 75th minute to snuff out any lingering hopes of an unlikely comeback.

From BBC

A hawkish tilt, on the other hand, could quickly snuff out the nascent rally, trigger a spike in Treasury bond yields, and deepen the retreat into cash by the world’s biggest investors.

From Barron's