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
Relevance
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
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of extinguishing
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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To avoid choking hazards, the researchers recommend pureeing blueberries for younger infants and mashing or cutting them into small pieces for older babies and toddlers.—
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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.—
Verb
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In July, the Dragon Bravo Fire engulfed the more remote side of Grand Canyon National Park, destroying dozens of structures, including the historic Grand Canyon Lodge.—
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The horrific string of wildfires that has plagued California in recent years, taking dozens of lives and destroying many billions of dollars in property, also created a crisis in property insurance.—
Verb
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Booing begins, and then shushing, and then booing again.—
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.—
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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.—
Verb
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Tens of thousands have been fleeing the city, which has seen Israel demolishing high-rise buildings.—
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Preservationists stepped in to keep the company from its standard practice of demolishing a vacant building.—
Verb
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The legislature is now a poster child for silencing dissent.—
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People should reject the false practice of silencing opposition and instead prioritize engagement to win the hearts and minds of the nation.—
Verb
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Creeping Phlox Perfect for blanketing the ground between perennials, creeping phlox (Phlox subulata) flowers profusely in early spring.—
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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.—
Verb
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Doing so could compromise the slight taper at the hem, ruining the silhouette.—
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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?—
Cite this Entry
“Extinguishing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/extinguishing. Accessed 29 Sep. 2025.
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