Synonyms of extinguishing

extinguishing

verb

present participle of extinguish

1

as in choking

to cause to cease burning

the fire in the skillet was quickly extinguished by slamming the lid on

Synonyms & Similar Words

• choking
• quenching
• blanketing
• dousing
• smothering
• putting out
• suffocating
• snuffing (out)
• blowing out
• stubbing
• stamping (out)
• snubbing (out)
• rubbing out

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• lighting
• firing
• igniting
• kindling
• inflaming

2

as in destroying

to bring to a complete end the physical soundness, existence, or usefulness of

a fatal blunder that extinguished all hope that the team would actually win the play-offs

Synonyms & Similar Words

• destroying
• demolishing
• ruining
• shattering
• wrecking
• devastating
• overcoming
• smashing
• damaging
• wasting
• annihilating
• vaporizing
• decimating
• eroding
• razing
• pulverizing
• ravaging
• killing
• marring
• defeating
• dismantling
• totaling
• removing
• crippling
• crushing
• creaming
• tearing down
• subduing
• pulling down
• nuking
• wracking
• blasting
• doing in
• desolating
• breaking
• rubbing out
• conquering
• injuring
• impairing
• trimming
• dissolving
• eradicating
• licking
• disintegrating
• harming
• mastering
• surmounting
• mutilating
• spoiling
• deteriorating
• obliterating
• whipping
• prevailing (over)
• dynamiting
• routing
• exterminating
• disfiguring
• clobbering
• winning (against)
• expunging
• liquidating
• undoing
• extirpating
• thrashing
• defacing
• beating
• scouring
• vitiating
• wearing (away)
• mangling
• slaughtering
• besting
• gutting
• disassembling
• triumphing (over)
• plundering
• murdering
• assassinating
• sweeping (away)
• effacing
• executing
• looting
• walloping
• vandalizing
• sacking
• scotching
• overmatching
• trampling
• blowing up
• despoiling
• washing out
• pillaging
• dispatching
• wiping out
• slaying
• massacring
• trouncing
• taking down
• overbearing
• zapping
• trashing
• cutting down
• stamping (out)
• blotting out
• drubbing
• unmaking
• butchering
• skunking
• killing off
• felling
• rooting (out)
• dilapidating
• snuffing (out)
• unbuilding
• mowing (down)
• taking out
• havocking

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• building
• constructing
• raising
• erecting
• creating
• repairing
• fixing
• rearing
• setting up
• producing
• making
• forming
• establishing
• putting up
• inventing
• shaping
• manufacturing
• protecting
• assembling
• preserving
• forging
• organizing
• fashioning
• saving
• constituting
• framing
• molding
• instituting
• fabricating
• reconditioning
• patching
• revamping
• conserving
• mending
• restoring
• founding
• bringing about
• doctoring
• rebuilding
• reconstructing
• remodeling
• fathering
• renovating

3

as in shushing

to stop the noise or speech of

her final, telling point extinguished her opponents on the city council

Synonyms & Similar Words

• shushing
• silencing
• quieting
• muting
• settling
• hushing
• quelling
• stilling
• squelching
• dumbing
• shutting up
• quietening

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• stirring
• agitating

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of extinguishing

Crews continued mopping up the fire Monday, strengthening containment lines and extinguishing hot spots at least 300 feet inside the perimeter. — Sacbee.com, 21 Sep. 2026

Since then, southern Italians have attributed all sorts of miracles to his intercession, including extinguishing the volcanic fires of Mount Vesuvius in 1631. — Clare Whitton, The Conversation, 17 Sep. 2026

After extinguishing the blaze, authorities found two people dead inside a 2019 McLaren. — Latoya Gayle, PEOPLE, 14 Sep. 2026

At least three firefighting planes, nine helicopters, 169 fire extinguishing trucks and more than 1,000 firefighters were deployed, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. — ABC News, 9 Sep. 2026

In the aftermath of the massacre, around 258 claims were filed, but the government later enacted the Indemnity Act of 1961, shielding officials from legal liability and extinguishing the claims. — Michelle Gumede, Los Angeles Times, 3 Sep. 2026

Firefighters were then able to contain the fire to a single room, extinguishing the blaze in approximately 15 minutes after crews arrived. — Ana Maria Soler, CBS News, 22 Aug. 2026

The book resuscitates the childhood feeling that most of us spend our lives tamping down and dismissing, if not completely extinguishing. — Chris Ware, The New York Review of Books, 12 Aug. 2026

After extinguishing the fire, emergency crews discovered the eight victims inside the residence. — Michael Sinkewicz, FOXNews.com, 25 July 2026