smother

[smuhth-er]

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. Cooking.,  to steam (food) slowly in a heavy, tightly closed vessel with a minimum of liquid.

   smothered chicken and onions.

verb (used without object)

1. to become stifled or suffocated; be prevented from breathing.

2. to be stifled; be suppressed or concealed.

noun

1. dense, stifling smoke.

2. a smoking or smoldering state, as of burning matter.

3. dust, fog, spray, etc., in a dense or enveloping cloud.

4. an overspreading profusion of anything.

   a smother of papers.

smother

/ ˈsmʌðə /

verb

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

noun

1. anything, such as a cloud of smoke, that stifles

2. a profusion or turmoil

3. archaic,  a state of smouldering or a smouldering fire

Other Word Forms

• smothery adjective
• smotherable adjective
• half-smothered adjective
• unsmotherable adjective
• unsmothered adjective
• unsmothering adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of smother¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of smother¹

Old English smorian to suffocate; related to Middle Low German smōren

Example Sentences

Assisted by a smothering defense, Herbert upstaged Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes before a worldwide audience.

From Los Angeles Times

This makes him susceptible to conceding from quickly taken shots, but his approach is fairly successful in smothering chances, especially given how wide he spreads himself and the use of his feet to make saves.

From BBC

This process, known as sheet mulching, involves layering cardboard or newspaper over the grass and weeds to smother them, creating a natural compost that enriches the soil and suppresses weed growth.

From Los Angeles Times

When the attempted murderer claimed his intended targets stole his job, Superman snarled “The only person responsible for the blackness smothering your soul ... is you.”

From Los Angeles Times

The gentle slopes of Ukraine's Carpathian mountains, smothered in brilliant green spruce and fir trees, stretch into the distance.

From BBC

Related Words

• choke 
• douse 
• envelop 
• overwhelm 
• quash 
• quell 
• snuff 
• squelch 
• stifle 
• strangle 
• suffocate 
• suppress 
• surround