smother
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈsmʌðɚ/
ipa: /ˈsmʌðə/
ipa: /ˈsmʊðə/
ipa: /ˈsmʊðəɹ/
ipa: /ˈsmʌðəɹ/
rhymes: -ʌðə(ɹ)
Forms: form: smothers
form: smothering
form: smothered
form: smothered
form: smoother
Etymology: From Middle English smothren, smortheren, alteration (due to smother, smorther (“a suffocating vapour, dense smoke”, noun)) of Middle English smoren (“to smother”), from Old English smorian (“to smother, suffocate, choke”), from Proto-Germanic *smurōną (“to suffocate, strangle”), probably related to *smallijan (“to burn”) or Old English smoca (“smoke”).
Cognate with Middle Low German smoren, smurten (“to choke, suffocate”), West Flemish smoren (“to smoke, reek”), Dutch smoren (“to suffocate, smother", also "to stew, simmer”), German schmoren (“to stew, simmer, braise”).
Senses: examples: text: He smothered her by pressing his hand over her mouth.
text: But I am Pestilence;—hither and thither
I flit about, that I may slay and smother;—
All lips which I have kissed must surely wither,
But Death’s—if thou art he, we’ll go to work together!
ref: 1817 December, Percy Bysshe Shelley, “The Revolt of Islam. […]”, in [Mary] Shelley, editor, The Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley. […], volume I, London: Edward Moxon […], published 1839, →OCLC, page 280:
text: […] he dashes to his destination at such a speed that when he stops the horse half smothers him in a cloud of steam.
"Unbear him half a moment to freshen him up, and I'll be back."
ref: 1852 March – 1853 September, Charles Dickens, Bleak House, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1853, →OCLC:
text: The awfulest thing was the silence; there wasn't a sound but the screaking of the saddles, the measured tramplings, and the sneezing of the horses, afflicted by the smothering dust-clouds which they kicked up.
ref: 1895 October, Louis de Conte, translated by [Jean François Alden] [pseudonyms; Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain)], “Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc. […]”, in Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, volume XCI, number DXLV, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →ISSN, [book I], part II, chapter XVI, page 746, column 1:
glosses: To suffocate; stifle; obstruct, more or less completely, the respiration of something or someone.
examples: text: to smother a fire with ashes
glosses: To extinguish or deaden, as fire, by covering, overlaying, or otherwise excluding the air.
examples: text: The committee's report was smothered.
synonyms: stifle
cover up
conceal
hide
glosses: To reduce to a low degree of vigor or activity; suppress or do away with; extinguish
examples: text: beefsteak smothered with onions
topics: cooking
food
lifestyle
glosses: To cook in a close dish.
examples: text: And I keep quite a lot of it around, especially chocolate-covered almonds and Trader Joes minipretzels smothered in dark chocolate.
ref: 2007 October 30, Jane E. Brody, “My Diet Strategy? Controlled Indulgence”, in The New York Times:
glosses: To daub or smear.
examples: text: She is smothered by the rope.
glosses: To be suffocated.
glosses: To breathe with great difficulty by reason of smoke, dust, close covering or wrapping, or the like.
glosses: to burn very slowly for want of air; smolder.
raw_tags: of a fire
glosses: to perish, grow feeble, or decline, by suppression or concealment; be stifled; be suppressed or concealed.
examples: text: Emmanuel Adebayor's touch proved a fraction heavy as he guided Van der Vaart's exquisite long ball round John Ruddy, before the goalkeeper did well to smother Bale's shot from Modric's weighted pass.
ref: 2011 December 27, Mike Henson, “Norwich 0 - 2 Tottenham”, in BBC Sport:
topics: ball-games
games
hobbies
lifestyle
soccer
sports
glosses: To get in the way of a kick of the ball.
qualifier: Australian rules football
glosses: To get in the way of a kick of the ball, preventing it going very far. When a player is kicking the ball, an opponent who is close enough will reach out with his hands and arms to get over the top of it, so the ball hits his hands after leaving the kicker's boot, dribbling away.
topics: boxing
government
hobbies
lifestyle
martial-arts
military
politics
sports
war
glosses: To prevent the development of an opponent's attack by one's arm positioning.
Derived terms: smotherable
smotheration
smothercate
smother crop
smother-fly
smother mate
smothery
Related terms: smotheriness