silence
noun
\
Definition of silence
(Entry 1 of 2)
silence
verbDefinition of silence (Entry 2 of 2)
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Synonyms for silence
Synonyms: Noun
dumbness, muteness, speechlessness, stillness
Synonyms: Verb
dumb, extinguish, hush, mute, quell, quiet, quieten [chiefly British], settle, shush, shut up, squelch, still
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Examples of silence in a Sentence
Noun
I find it hard to sleep unless there is complete silence. The silence was broken by the sound of footsteps in the hallway. We sat there in dead silence. My sister's revelation was met with stunned silence. The professor asked for silence. There was an awkward silence after he confessed his love for her. A long silence followed her reply. We must break 50 years of silence on issues like the government's involvement in assassination and espionage. I will not be intimidated into silence. She finally ended her silence and spoke to the media about what happened.Verb
My sister's revelation silenced everyone around the table. Disconnecting the battery will silence the alarm. The mayor tried to silence his critics. I will not be silenced! It's obvious that the purpose of this law is to silence dissent.
Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
The silence meant more than 220 dogs and 50 cats had died in the flooding, according to Telfort and Burrows. — Gustavo Valdes And Pamela Boykoff, CNN, "220 dogs, 50 cats died in flooding at Bahamas animal shelter," 8 Sep. 2019 No one answered her, but Abby seemingly took the silence as a yes. — Martha Sorren, Woman's Day, "Abby Lee Miller Left the 'Dance Moms' Reunion, and No One Was Surprised," 4 Sep. 2019 Wever is a marvel as Detective Duvall, a soft-spoken woman of faith who masterfully uses the silence of listening to get anyone ā a survivor or a suspect ā to talk. — Kristen Baldwin, EW.com, "Netflix's Unbelievable is the only True Detective season 4 we need," 3 Sep. 2019 The client was able to use these tools to increase her awareness in the moment, insert herself into the silence that followed derailing comments, and maintain the flow of the discussion. — Kellogg Insight, Quartz at Work, "Four ways to become a more self-aware leader," 28 Aug. 2019 Stephen Daw: Definitely the deafening silence from Taylor after Kanye handed the mic back to her, while the crowd violently booed him. — Billboard Staff, Billboard, "Looking Back at the VMAs 10 Years Later: A Billboard Staff Kanye/Taylor Roundtable," 22 Aug. 2019 Judging from the wholesale silence of many people of faith in hostile quarters of American life, you could be forgiven for having your doubts. — David French, National Review, "Courage Is the Cure for Political Correctness," 20 Aug. 2019 Giants Notebook Javier Lopez mostly remembers the silence. — Taylor Kate Brown, SFChronicle.com, "Bay Briefing: Families mourn young people killed in Gilroy shooting," 30 July 2019 And the near-silence of electric propulsion is a perfect match for a luxury transport. — Jonathan M. Gitlin, Ars Technica, "The 2020 Cadillac XT6: Better than an Escalade in every way," 29 July 2019Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
The notion that certain views should be silenced is popular on the left, too. — The Economist, "The global gag on free speech is tightening," 15 Aug. 2019 All other numbers will be silenced and delivered in the background. — Rachel Rothman, Good Housekeeping, "How to Stop Spam Robocalls From Clogging up Your Phone," 11 June 2019 When such studies yielded inconsistent findings ā some concluded that recruiting DNA to the nuclear periphery led to gene silencing, for instance, while others saw no such effect ā researchers struggled to interpret them. — Quanta Magazine, "In the Nucleus, Genesā Activity Might Depend on Their Location," 6 Nov. 2018 If Thursday was any indication, women aren't going to be silenced in this political climate. — Abby Gardner, Glamour, "Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal Among Hundreds Arrested During Immigration Policy Protest," 29 June 2018 However, Biloxi's Nate Griep silenced the hometown crowd by striking out Jimenez for his eighth save on the year. — Birmingham Barons, AL.com, "Jimenez, Rose Homers Not Enough In 5-4 Loss," 29 Apr. 2018 The peopleās opinion can be neglected and strong arms be deployed to silence us. — The Economist, "Hong Kong āis a battle for survival and for freedomā," 21 Aug. 2019 Conspiracy-minded people began to wonder whether Epstein had been murdered by accomplices to silence him. — Naomi Fry, The New Yorker, "The Gall of Ghislaine Maxwell," 16 Aug. 2019 Chrissie Carnell Bixler, Marie Riales and two Jane Does on Wednesday filed a complaint in Los Angeles County Superior Court claiming the defendants harassed them and their families in an effort to silence and intimidate them. — Ashley Cullins, The Hollywood Reporter, "Danny Masterson, Church of Scientology Sued for Stalking, Conspiracy to Cover Up Sexual Assaults," 15 Aug. 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'silence.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for silence
silence
noun
English Language Learners Definition of silence
(Entry 1 of 2)
silence
verbEnglish Language Learners Definition of silence (Entry 2 of 2)