1
as in to strangle
to be or cause to be killed by lack of breathable air
children should never play inside discarded appliances because they could become trapped and smother
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to stifle
to refrain from openly showing or uttering
he quickly smothered his inappropriate laughter at the funeral ceremony
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in to bury
to defeat by a large margin
the soccer team smothered their first few opponents in the championships, but lost narrowly in the final round
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of smother
George Will, Twin Cities, 20 Mar. 2025
It’s smothered with American cheese and served with lettuce, tomato and griddled onion on a hoagie roll.
—Jared Kaufman, Twin Cities, 20 Mar. 2025
Lindsey Bever, Washington Post, 28 June 2024
Consider applying an insecticidal soap or horticultural oil after pruning to smother scale and insect eggs to the dormant roses.
—Mary Marlowe Leverette, Southern Living, 11 Sep. 2024
See All Example Sentences for smother
Verb
Trump lost in 2020 because voters, weary of a political diet consisting of huge dollops of turmoil smothered in a gravy of malice, thought Joe Biden promised tranquility.
—George Will, Twin Cities, 20 Mar. 2025
It’s smothered with American cheese and served with lettuce, tomato and griddled onion on a hoagie roll.
—Jared Kaufman, Twin Cities, 20 Mar. 2025
Noun
Some people use olive oil, mayonnaise or hair conditioner sprinkled with baking soda to smother or stall live crawling lice, then repeatedly comb with a fine-toothed comb to remove both live lice and unhatched eggs that have attached to hairs, as well as the empty eggshells.
—Lindsey Bever, Washington Post, 28 June 2024
Consider applying an insecticidal soap or horticultural oil after pruning to smother scale and insect eggs to the dormant roses.
—Mary Marlowe Leverette, Southern Living, 11 Sep. 2024
See All Example Sentences for smother
Recent Examples of Synonyms for smother
Verb
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Earlier this year, audio was released from 2022, where Majors admitted to having strangled his partner at the time.—
DeMicia Inman,
VIBE.com,
9 Apr. 2025
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Holder was found strangled and stabbed in the throat at a coin laundry, just eight months before Acosta was killed.—
Grethel Aguila,
Miami Herald,
8 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Semiconductor stocks that have struggled on fears that tariffs could stifle demand for many consumer products and slow the economy also jumped.—
Samantha Subin,
CNBC,
9 Apr. 2025
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Still, the move represents another case of leaders stifling the tools of the minority and deferring to Trump.—
Emily Brooks,
The Hill,
9 Apr. 2025
Verb
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The structure is made of opus reticulatum—bricks laid in a diamond pattern—and contains a volcanic rock called tuff: details suggesting high status individuals were buried here, as Artnet News’ Richard Whiddington reports.—
Sonja Anderson,
Smithsonian Magazine,
1 Apr. 2025
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Play defense straight up and Bueckers will bury them.—
Dom Amore,
Hartford Courant,
1 Apr. 2025
Noun
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To sustain his effort, Thurmond prepared by dehydrating himself with steam baths and reportedly used a bucket in a cloakroom to avoid leaving the floor.—
Josh Hammer,
MSNBC Newsweek,
1 Apr. 2025
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But instead of going full steam ahead with expanding on a nascent horror franchise, the brothers are returning instead with another new, original horror film — one that promises to be weirder, gorier, scarier, and sadder than their debut.—
Wilson Chapman,
IndieWire,
31 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Some of the aspiring stars who blew away the judges in the auditions round choked and failed to give their best showings, which led to the end of the road for standouts like Landynn Kennedy, Sam Sparks and Mikaela Bautista.—
KiMi Robinson,
USA Today,
1 Apr. 2025
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The move comes on the heels of the police report Stern filed claiming that a March 11 encounter at the Beverly Hills Hotel started out consensually but ended with Tate choking her nearly unconscious.—
Theresa Braine,
New York Daily News,
27 Mar. 2025
Verb
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To tell the Blue Devils, basically, not to suppress their emotions.—
Brendan Marks,
New York Times,
27 Mar. 2025
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The new, later Equal Pay Day marks a troubling reminder of how systemic barriers—ranging from occupational segregation to discrimination in hiring and promotion—continue to suppress the earning power of Black women.—
Jasmine Browley,
Essence,
25 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Recognizing these challenges is the first step toward overcoming them.—
Caroline Castrillon,
Forbes.com,
30 Mar. 2025
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Both Banchero and Wagner, who started alongside Cory Joseph, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Wendell Carter Jr., were able to overcome the defensive attention from the Kings and attack the basket with ease.—
Jason Beede,
The Orlando Sentinel,
30 Mar. 2025
Noun
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But other places are gone, in a cloud of dust, and in their place are gleaming new things.—
Miami Herald Archives,
Miami Herald,
7 Apr. 2025
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Later reports claimed that the plane had been hit by Russian shrapnel targeting Ukrainian drones, but the aircraft had already been struggling before the hit, having flown into a cloud of thick fog while losing satellite positioning data.—
Tereza Pultarova,
Space.com,
7 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Smother.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/smother. Accessed 13 Apr. 2025.
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