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
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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
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Recent Examples of extinguishing
As Mathias Jensen’s 95th-minute strike clattered into the net, at once extinguishing Manchester United’s stuttering attempt to come back from two early goals down at Brentford on Saturday lunchtime, a lot of attention turned to the away dugout.
—
Chris Weatherspoon, New York Times, 1 Oct. 2025
After extinguishing the fire, officials found Robert Hill, 44, deceased with severe burns, apparent head trauma, and signs of decomposition, according to Melesa Johnson with the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office.
—Noelle Alviz-Gransee, Kansas City Star, 29 Sep. 2025
The flight, which was headed to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was diverted, with flight attendants extinguishing the device and declaring an emergency, as Fox 5 and other outlets reported.
—Ashley J. Dimella, FOXNews.com, 18 Sep. 2025
Moisture of extinction was reached across most of the fire, extinguishing fine dead fuels.
—Ca Wildfire Bot, Sacbee.com, 15 Sep. 2025
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
Chris Weatherspoon, New York Times, 1 Oct. 2025
After extinguishing the fire, officials found Robert Hill, 44, deceased with severe burns, apparent head trauma, and signs of decomposition, according to Melesa Johnson with the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office.
—Noelle Alviz-Gransee, Kansas City Star, 29 Sep. 2025
The flight, which was headed to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was diverted, with flight attendants extinguishing the device and declaring an emergency, as Fox 5 and other outlets reported.
—Ashley J. Dimella, FOXNews.com, 18 Sep. 2025
Moisture of extinction was reached across most of the fire, extinguishing fine dead fuels.
—Ca Wildfire Bot, Sacbee.com, 15 Sep. 2025
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for extinguishing
Verb
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Foreign material in food products presents health risks, including choking, damage to teeth and digestive tract injury.—
Matthew Robinson,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 Sep. 2025
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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
Verb
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Since then, the Internet has gone about its immemorial business of destroying all incumbent forms of media; not content with vampirizing print, the digital space began sucking the life from pay-TV a dozen years ago.—
Anthony Crupi,
Sportico.com,
3 Oct. 2025
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Critics say returning the company without meaningful payment undercuts accountability and the compensatory purpose of the judgments; others note trustees and Judge Lopez have to avoid value-destroying, prolonged processes.—
Robert Alexander,
MSNBC Newsweek,
3 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Booing begins, and then shushing, and then booing again.—
Matthew Shen Goodman,
Harpers Magazine,
19 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Traditional methods rely on heating metals to extreme temperatures, then rapidly quenching them to trap atoms in a chaotic arrangement.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
24 Sep. 2025
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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
Verb
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Tens of thousands have been fleeing the city, which has seen Israel demolishing high-rise buildings.—
Caitlin Danaher,
CNN Money,
20 Sep. 2025
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Preservationists stepped in to keep the company from its standard practice of demolishing a vacant building.—
Cheryl V. Jackson,
IndyStar,
18 Sep. 2025
Verb
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According to the mission report, such cases amount to collective punishment — silencing not just individuals, but entire families.—
Antonio María Delgado,
Miami Herald,
23 Sep. 2025
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The legislature is now a poster child for silencing dissent.—
Amy Stephens,
Denver Post,
22 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Creeping Phlox Perfect for blanketing the ground between perennials, creeping phlox (Phlox subulata) flowers profusely in early spring.—
Megan Hughes,
Better Homes & Gardens,
15 Sep. 2025
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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
Verb
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Doing so could compromise the slight taper at the hem, ruining the silhouette.—
Shea Simmons,
PEOPLE,
22 Sep. 2025
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Car designers love them for not ruining the lines of the door with the necessities of real life, but is the benefit from drag reduction worth the safety risk?—
Jonathan M. Gitlin,
ArsTechnica,
10 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Extinguishing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/extinguishing. Accessed 6 Oct. 2025.
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