Hypertext Webster Gateway: "smother"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Smother \Smoth"er\, n.
That which smothers or causes a sensation of smothering, as
smoke, fog, the foam of the sea, a confused multitude of
things.
Then they vanished, swallowed up in the grayness of the
evening and the smoke and smother of the storm. --The
Century.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Smother \Smoth"er\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Smothered}; p. pr. &
vb. n. {Smothering}.] [OE. smotheren; akin to E. smoor. See
{Smoor}.]
1. To destroy the life of by suffocation; to deprive of the
air necessary for life; to cover up closely so as to
prevent breathing; to suffocate; as, to smother a child.
2. To affect as by suffocation; to stife; to deprive of air
by a thick covering, as of ashes, of smoke, or the like;
as, to smother a fire.
3. Hence, to repress the action of; to cover from public
view; to suppress; to conceal; as, to smother one's
displeasure.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Smother \Smoth"er\, v. i.
1. To be suffocated or stifled.
2. To burn slowly, without sufficient air; to smolder.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Smother \Smoth"er\, n. [OE. smorther. See {Smother}, v. t.]
1. Stifling smoke; thick dust. --Shak.
2. A state of suppression. [Obs.]
Not to keep their suspicions in smother. --Bacon.
{Smother fly} (Zo["o]l.), an aphid.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
smother
n 1: a confused multitude of things [syn: {clutter}, {jumble}, {muddle},
{mare's nest}, {welter}]
2: a stifling cloud of smoke
v 1: envelop completely; "smother the meat in gravy" [syn: {surround}]
2: deprive of oxygen and prevent from breathing; "Othello
smothered Desdemona with a pillow"; "The child suffocated
herself with a plastic bag that the parents had left on
the floor" [syn: {asphyxiate}, {suffocate}]
3: conceal, suppress, or hide; "smother a yawn" [syn: {stifle},
{muffle}]
4: form an impenetrable cover over; "the butter cream smothered
the cake"
5: deprive of the oxygen necessary for combustion; "smother
fires" [syn: {put out}]
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