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.
Smother \Smoth"er\, v. i. 1. To be suffocated or stifled.
2. To burn slowly, without sufficient air; to smolder.
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.
3. 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. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
{Smother fly} (Zo["o]l.), an aphid.
But before it could smother the area with trees, it was prevailed upon by the Council for the Protection of Rural England to sell off a big part of it, keeping only Hardknott for planting. The result is that much of the top of the valley remains unspoilt.
Long-Running Comedy It's most difficult To smother a giggle When you see some joggers Largely jiggle.
"India already has enough troops to smother Pakistan in a protracted war," said a Western military official in New Delhi.
She said it was a special moment for all Slovaks, as people queued to smother her with kisses.
It is a favourite with landscapers, who use it to cover banks and also to smother weeds. I do not grow it and cannot say how it fares from seed, but I doubt there is a lot of variation.
Seeing all those millions in action, I was just so relieved that Ms. Gruberova, gawky thing that she is, didn't accidentally smother herself in a drape.
ST-AMABLE, Quebec (AP) _ Firefighters used sand to smother the last flames of a fire that raged for three days through a dump near Montreal that held 3 million tires, an official said.
It seems there is no event which the BBC will not attempt to smother in goo, from the Cardiff Singer Of The World contest to the once dignified Wimbledon.
In addition, IBM's size can smother small companies.
Sadly no initiative is made to market this meat and in most Ulster restaurants there is an unfortunate tendency to smother the meat in old-fashioned fruit sauces. A similar lack of initiative has blighted Ulster cheese.
"I'm not trying to smother the world with paperwork," he replied.