Link Centre Dictionary

smother

smot·her

UK/ˈsmʌðə/ US/ˈsməðər/ uncommon dated
verb (5) noun (2)

verb

1.

envelop completely

  • “smother the meat in gravy”
Synonyms
2.

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
3.

conceal or hide

  • “smother a yawn”
  • “muffle one”
  • “;”
Synonyms
4.

form an impenetrable cover over

  • “the butter cream smothered the cake”
5.

deprive of the oxygen necessary for combustion

  • “smother fires”
Synonyms

noun

1.
2.

Origin

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”).

Phrases

  • smother crop
  • smother mate

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Entails

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.