extinguishing

present participle of extinguish
1
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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of extinguishing Rescuers are extinguishing the fire. Svitlana Vlasova, CNN Money, 7 Sep. 2025 Robust and verifiable world models could uncover, if not the El Dorado of AGI, then at least a scientifically plausible tool for extinguishing AI hallucinations, enabling reliable reasoning, and increasing the interpretability of AI systems. John Pavlus, Quanta Magazine, 2 Sep. 2025 For decades, fire-extinguishing foams containing PFAS seeped into the local aquifer during training exercises. Nicole Fallert, USA Today, 14 Aug. 2025 Casner said fire crews from Prospect, Southington and Wolcott assisted in extinguishing the fire. Kellie Love, Hartford Courant, 12 Aug. 2025 One building has extensive charring on a staircase, and both units have severe damage to the attics, including holes that fire personnel cut in the course of extinguishing the fire. Ariane Lange, Sacbee.com, 11 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for extinguishing
Verb
  • Baltimore led Buffalo by 15 points with four minutes to go Sunday night before choking away a 41-40 loss in what became an instant classic.
    Parker Gabriel, Denver Post, 13 Sep. 2025
  • Infant accessories dug-up from the previous owner’s storage at the estate sale might still contain lead paint or choking hazards, and Ziomek advises to beware especially of any accessories involving sleeping, when babies are particularly vulnerable.
    Hallie Milstein, Southern Living, 12 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • The military has also been targeting and destroying high-rise buildings surrounding displacement camps, crowding Gaza City’s residents into ever-smaller spaces.
    Zeena Saifi, CNN Money, 12 Sep. 2025
  • Ultimately, North was found guilty of destroying official documents, accepting a home security system as a gift and obstructing Congress in 1989.
    Meredith Kile, PEOPLE, 11 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Activating your ninth house of expansion and third house of immediate surroundings, this tricky opposition is quenching your desire for adventure while pulling you back into shady debates and undercurrents with people that surround you.
    Valerie Mesa, People.com, 27 Aug. 2025
  • While there are plenty of quenching hair oils and split-end-smoothing leave-ins out there, nothing has made more of a difference to my puffy lengths than Color Wow’s Dreaming Advanced Repair and Resurfacing Treatment, $45.
    Jacqueline Kilikita, Refinery29, 12 Aug. 2025
Verb
  • An image taken on August 19 shows Israeli excavators and bulldozers demolishing buildings in Zeitoun.
    Zeena Saifi, CNN Money, 12 Sep. 2025
  • About 90% of the former Spring Hill Mall is gone and work demolishing the final anchor store set to begin in the next couple of weeks, officials said.
    Gloria Casas, Chicago Tribune, 6 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Netanyahu echoed the concern, warning that political violence aimed at silencing dissent undermines democratic values worldwide.
    Amanda Castro Hannah Parry Shane Croucher, MSNBC Newsweek, 15 Sep. 2025
  • Time and again, history’s advance has been imagined to depend on silencing or destroying a single figure – the rival who becomes the ultimate, despicable foe.
    Maurizio Valsania, The Conversation, 12 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • While oversized leather bomber jackets and trench coats continue to dominate fall trend reports, more voluminous, blanketing silhouettes will surely gain momentum as temperatures begin to plummet.
    Emily Tannenbaum, Glamour, 11 Sep. 2025
  • In no time, volcanic ash spreads to the heavily populated capital of Tokyo, fogging up the air and blanketing buildings and vehicles.
    Chris Lau, CNN Money, 27 Aug. 2025
Verb
  • And broadcasting your irritation too loudly risks ruining the atmosphere for everyone else just as much as their yelling or off-key chants.
    Mary Catherine McAnnally Scott, Southern Living, 6 Sep. 2025
  • Just as Alexis Bellino flubbed her second chance by aligning herself too closely with Johnny J, an Ed Hardy snapback that refuses to die, Gretchen is ruining hers by trying to relitigate things from the Obama Administration.
    Brian Moylan, Vulture, 5 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • The Tresemmé Lamellar Gloss Finishing Oil is what stands between you and shampoo-ad levels of shine, locking in luster and quieting frizz with its mix of sunflower, coconut, and macadamia oils.
    Sophia Panych, Allure, 16 Sep. 2025
  • Nine of those points came in a 16-0 third quarter run that turned a seven-point deficit into a 61-52 lead heading to the fourth, quieting the packed house in San Francisco’s Chase Center.
    Mike Cook, Twin Cities, 7 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Extinguishing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/extinguishing. Accessed 16 Sep. 2025.

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