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Smother

//ˈsməðər// noun, verb

Definitions

Noun

1
That which smothers or appears to smother, particularly; Smoldering; slow combustion. countable, uncountable
2
a stifling cloud of smoke wordnet
3
That which smothers or appears to smother, particularly; Cookware used in such cooking. countable, uncountable
"Thus must I from the smoke into the smother […]"
4
a confused multitude of things wordnet
5
That which smothers or appears to smother, particularly; The state of being stifled; suppression. countable, dated, uncountable
"not to keep their suspicions in smother"

Show 2 more definitions

6
That which smothers or appears to smother, particularly; Stifling smoke; thick dust. countable, dated, uncountable
"Thus must I from the smoke into the smother, / From tyrant duke unto tyrant brother."
7
That which smothers or appears to smother, particularly; The act of smothering a kick (see verb section). countable, uncountable

Verb

1
To suffocate; stifle; obstruct, more or less completely, the respiration of something or someone. transitive
"He smothered her by pressing his hand over her mouth."
2
suppress in order to conceal or hide wordnet
3
To extinguish or deaden, as fire, by covering, overlaying, or otherwise excluding the air. transitive
"to smother a fire with ashes"
4
envelop completely wordnet
5
To reduce to a low degree of vigor or activity; suppress or do away with; extinguish transitive
"The committee's report was smothered."

Show 12 more definitions

6
deprive of the oxygen necessary for combustion wordnet
7
To cook in a close dish. transitive
"beefsteak smothered with onions"
8
deprive of oxygen and prevent from breathing wordnet
9
To daub or smear. transitive
"And I keep quite a lot of it around, especially chocolate-covered almonds and Trader Joes minipretzels smothered in dark chocolate."
10
form an impenetrable cover over wordnet
11
To be suffocated. intransitive
"She is smothered by the rope."
12
To breathe with great difficulty by reason of smoke, dust, close covering or wrapping, or the like. intransitive
13
to burn very slowly for want of air; smolder. intransitive
14
to perish, grow feeble, or decline, by suppression or concealment; be stifled; be suppressed or concealed. figuratively, intransitive
15
To get in the way of a kick of the ball.
"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."
16
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.
17
To prevent the development of an opponent's attack by one's arm positioning.

Etymology

Etymology 1

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”).

Etymology 2

From Middle English smother, smorther (“a suffocating vapour, dense smoke”), from Old English smorþor (“smoke”, literally “that which suffocates”), from smorian (“to suffocate, choke”) + -þor (instrumental suffix).

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