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 disconnected the trailer from the warehouse and moved it away from the building before extinguishing the flames, preventing the fire from spreading inside, officials said. — Sacbee.com, 2 Nov. 2026

Crews disconnected and moved the trailer away from the warehouse before extinguishing the flames, preventing the fire from spreading farther into the building. — Cecilio Padilla, CBS News, 2 Nov. 2026

About 90 minutes before the bodies were found, police officers were called to an Oberlin College campus parking lot to support firefighters extinguishing a fire in a vehicle that was registered to Jones. — Hikmat Mohammed, ARTnews.com, 30 Oct. 2026

About 90 minutes before the victims' bodies were discovered on Wednesday, officers were called to the Oberlin College campus to assist firefighters extinguishing a vehicle fire in a parking lot, authorities said. — ABC News, 29 Oct. 2026

Her passion for Pol is a flare, burning brightly and extinguishing quickly. — Literary Hub, 5 Oct. 2026

Chinese authorities have tightened their grip on the media, the legal profession, and civil society, limiting the space for Chinese citizens to discuss mounting social woes and extinguishing emerging calls for deeper political reform. — Carl Minzner, Foreign Affairs, 5 Oct. 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