Tikibu: pronunciation dictionary with use examples

Word: smother
IPA transcription: [sm'ʌðɚ]
verb meaning of the word
  • Synonyms: smother, surround
    Meaning: envelop completely; "smother the meat in gravy"
  • Synonyms: smother, asphyxiate, suffocate
    Meaning: deprive of oxygen and prevent from breathing; "Othello smothered Desdemona with a pillow"; "The child suffocated herself with a plastic bag that the parents had left on the floor"
  • Synonyms: smother, stifle, strangle, muffle, repress
    Meaning: conceal or hide; "smother a yawn"; "muffle one's anger"; "strangle a yawn"
Usage examples
  • It would absorb and smother them if it could.
  • If there was a fire, this rain would smother it.
  • "Silver, sir," returned the captain; "he's as anxious as you and I to smother things up.
  • He seemed suddenly to shrink together and broke into rapid, short sobs, which he tried at first to smother, but at last he sobbed aloud.
  • This hand of the past reaches up into the present to smother the rising flame of modern ideals, to reforge our chains when we have broken them, to arrest progress.
  • For a moment Lanyard was able to accomplish no more than to smother resistance in a rib-crushing embrace; no sooner did he relax it than all attempts to shift his hold were anticipated and met half way, forcing him back upon the defensive.
  • I begged that she would allow me to kiss her hand, and she did not say yes, but when I took it and pressed my lips on it, she did not oppose any resistance; I had the courage to smother my ardent desires, and the kiss I imprinted on her lovely hand was a mixture of tenderness, respect, and admiration.