snuff out

Verb

snuff out (third-person singular simple present snuffs out, present participle snuffing out, simple past and past participle snuffed out)

1. (transitive) To extinguish (literally, especially by physically covering or rubbing); to extinguish (figuratively): to stop (a process), to kill (a process).
   • Near-synonym: smother
   • The risk of fire was an ever-present danger, and every night at bedtime they performed the ritual of checking that every candle and lantern had been snuffed out.

   Synonyms:

   smother

2. (slang, transitive) To kill a living being.
   • He sighed, stifled his urge to snuff out the moron who designed this work process, and got back to work.

   Synonyms:

   rub out, annihilate, bag, baptize, bereave of life, blight, bring down, bump off, bury, cack

3. (intransitive, slang) To die.
   • People snuff out at all ages: accident apart, our vital clocks vary […]