Definition of EXTINGUISH

extinguish

Meanings

Verb

  • put an end to; kill
  • put out, as of fires, flames, or lights
    • "Too big to be extinguished at once, the forest fires at best could be contained"
  • extinguish by crushing
  • terminate, end, or take out
    • "Socialism extinguished these archaic customs"
  • kill in large numbers
  • To stop (fire, etc.) from burning; also, to stop (light, etc.) from shining; to put out, to quench.
  • To eclipse or obscure (someone or something).
  • To kill (someone).
  • To put an end to (something) completely; to annihilate, to destroy.
  • To put an end to (something) completely; to annihilate, to destroy.
  • To bring about the extinction of (a conditioned reflex).
  • To suppress (something, as feelings, a person's spirit, a state of affairs, etc.); to quench.
  • To abolish or make void (a law, a legal right, etc.); also, to cancel (a creditor's claim, a licence, etc.).
  • To die out.

Origin / Etymology

Borrowed from Latin extinguo (“to put out (what is burning), quench, extinguish, deprive of life, destroy, abolish”), from ex (“out”) + stinguere (“to put out, quench, extinguish”). Doublet of extinct.

Synonyms

aerosolize, annihilate, atomize, benothing, bewreck, blot out, blotto, blow out, carry off, crush out, dash, decimate, decompose, demolish, desolate, destroy, devastate, diffuse, disintegrate, disperse, dissolve, do away with, douse, eliminate, eradicate, erase, exterminate, extinct, extinguish, extirpate, fuck, get rid of, harry, jazz, lay waste, level, liquidate, nuke, obliterate, press out, pull down, pulverize, quench, race, ravage, raze, remove, ruin, snuff out, stamp out, stub out, total, unbreed, unexist, unmake, uproot, waste, wipe off, wipe out, wreck

Antonyms

ignite

Scrabble Score: 21

extinguish is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
extinguish is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
extinguish is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 23

extinguish is a valid Words With Friends word