ər verb (used with object)
1.
to stifle or suffocate, as by smoke or other means of preventing free breathing.
2.
to extinguish or deaden (fire, coals, etc.) by covering so as to exclude air.
3.
to cover closely or thickly; envelop: to smother a steak with mushrooms.
4.
to suppress or repress: to smother feelings.
5.
Cookery. to steam (food) slowly in a heavy, tightly closed vessel with a minimum of liquid: smothered chicken and onions.
verb (used without object)
6.
to become stifled or suffocated; be prevented from breathing.
7.
to be stifled; be suppressed or concealed.
00:10
Smother
is one of our favorite verbs.
So is bowdlerise. Does it mean:
| to introduce subtleties into or argue subtly about. |
| to expurgate (a written work) by removing or modifying passages considered vulgar or objectionable. |
noun
8.
dense, stifling smoke.
9.
a smoking or smoldering state, as of burning matter.
10.
dust, fog, spray, etc., in a dense or enveloping cloud.
11.
an overspreading profusion of anything: a smother of papers.
Origin:
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
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
Related forms
smoth·er·a·ble, adjective
half-smoth·ered, adjective
un·smoth·er·a·ble, adjective
un·smoth·ered, adjective
un·smoth·er·ing, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To smother
Collins
World English Dictionary
smother (ˈsmʌðə) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —vb | |
| 1. | to suffocate or stifle by cutting off or being cut off from the air |
| 2. | (tr) to surround (with) or envelop (in): he smothered her with love |
| 3. | (tr) to extinguish (a fire) by covering so as to cut it off from the air |
| 4. | to be or cause to be suppressed or stifled: smother a giggle |
| 5. | (tr) to cook or serve (food) thickly covered with sauce, etc |
| —n | |
| 6. | anything, such as a cloud of smoke, that stifles |
| 7. | a profusion or turmoil |
| 8. | archaic a state of smouldering or a smouldering fire |
| [Old English smorian to suffocate; related to Middle Low German smōren] | |
| 'smothery | |
| —adj | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
smother
c.1200, "to suffocate with smoke," from smorthre (n.) "dense, suffocating smoke" (c.1175), from stem of O.E. smorian "to suffocate, choke," possibly connected to smolder. Meaning "to kill by suffocation" is from 1548; sense of "to extinguish a fire" is from 1591. Sense of
"stifle, repress" is first recorded 1579; meaning "to cover thickly (with some substance)" is from 1598.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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