smothering

Verb

smother (third-person singular simple present smothers, present participle smothering, simple past and past participle smothered)

1. (transitive) To suffocate; stifle; obstruct, more or less completely, the respiration of something or someone.
   • He smothered her by pressing his hand over her mouth.

   Synonyms:

   suffocate, choke, stifle

   Antonyms:

   ventilate

2. (transitive) To extinguish or deaden, as fire, by covering, overlaying, or otherwise excluding the air.
   • to smother a fire with ashes
3. (transitive) To reduce to a low degree of vigor or activity; suppress or do away with; extinguish
   • The committee's report was smothered.

   Synonyms:

   stifle, cover up, conceal, hide

   Antonyms:

   release

4. (transitive) To cook in a close dish.
   • beefsteak smothered with onions
5. (transitive) To daub or smear.
   • And I keep quite a lot of it around, especially chocolate-covered almonds and Trader Joes minipretzels smothered in dark chocolate.2007 October 30, Jane E. Brody, “My Diet Strategy? Controlled Indulgence”, in The New York Times
6. (intransitive) To be suffocated.
   • She is smothered by the rope.

   Synonyms:

   choke, stifle

See all 17 meanings of smother