pacifier
Americannoun
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a person or thing that pacifies.
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a rubber or plastic device, often shaped into a nipple, for a baby to suck or bite on.
noun
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a person or thing that pacifies
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a baby's dummy or teething ring
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of pacifier
Explanation
A pacifier is a soothing device for babies that's made of rubber, silicone, or plastic. If you can picture the cartoon character Maggie Simpson, then you can picture a pacifier. Most infants are born with a strong need to suck, and many of them suck their own thumbs or fingers to soothe themselves. A pacifier works the same way. While some parents and even doctors worry that continuing to use pacifiers too long can damage babies' developing teeth and palates, such problems are actually very rare. The original meaning of pacifier is "anything (or anyone) that pacifies," from the Latin pacificare, "make peace; calm."
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.
See Examples For:
After clinical assessments, parents were provided the opportunity to introduce the modified pacifier for a 60 second measurement of their infant's intraoral suckling vacuum.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 29, 2024
Make sure the crib is empty, other than the baby and perhaps a pacifier.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2023
About a third of the kiddos in most classes at the two Seattle area high schools where I teach have just checked out and use them as a pacifier.
From Seattle Times ● May 12, 2023
She called herself a "human pacifier" and reluctantly started co-sleeping before realizing she needed to make changes before going back to work.
From Salon ● May 12, 2023
She had tons of your old stuff piled on the bed: a pair of tiny sneakers, your frilly white baptism dress, even a gross chewed-on pacifier.
From "P.S. I Miss You" by Jen Petro-Roy
On one of the days in court, she brought the couple's two young children, who were both dressed in suits with pacifiers in their mouths.
From BBC ● Feb. 19, 2025
Plastic is used in all kinds of things, and it is not controversial at all to say that the amount of mercury in, say, pacifiers for babies should be none.
From Slate ● Nov. 4, 2024
They held clocks, baby pacifiers, napkins and other cleaning equipment, as well as chains they said symbolized the challenges that domestic servants face in Indonesia.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 14, 2023
Babies "R" Us was the go-to destination for parents looking for cribs, pacifiers and diaper bags until stores were shut in June 2018.
From Reuters ● Jan. 10, 2023
They came in useful for holding rattles and pacifiers and, of course, the occasional chocolate treat.
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
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.
