extinguish
verb/ɪkˈstɪŋ.ɡwɪʃ/
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.
8 senses
- 1To stop (fire, etc.) from burning; also, to stop (light…
- 2To eclipse or obscure (someone or something).
- 3To kill (someone).
- 4To put an end to (something) completely; to annihilate…
- 5To bring about the extinction of (a conditioned reflex).
- 6To suppress (something, as feelings, a person's spirit…
- 7To abolish or make void (a law, a legal right, etc.)…
- 8To die out.
› To end (something).
To stop (fire, etc.) from burning; also, to stop (light, etc.) from shining; to put out, to quench.
Figuratively To eclipse or obscure (someone or something).
- A beauty that extinguishes all others by comparison
- The rays of the sun were extinguished by the thunder clouds.
Figuratively To kill (someone).
Figuratively To put an end to (something) completely; to annihilate, to destroy.
- She extinguished all my hopes.
- They intended to extinguish the enemy by force of numbers
› To end (something). › To put an end to (something) completely; to…
Human sciences, Psychology, Sciences Figuratively To bring about the extinction of (a conditioned reflex).
- Many patients can extinguish their phobias after a few months of treatment.
› To end (something).
Figuratively To suppress (something, as feelings, a person's spirit, a state of affairs, etc.); to quench.
Law Figuratively To abolish or make void (a law, a legal right, etc.); also, to cancel (a creditor's claim, a licence, etc.).
- 1668 December 19, James Dalrymple, “Mr. Alexander Seaton contra Menzies” in The Deciſions of the Lords of Council & Seſſion I (Edinburgh, 1683), page 575
- If the amnesty becomes law as expected this month or in June, it promises to extinguish the charges Puigdemont faces of disobedience and misuse of public funds.2024 May 11, Barney Jopson, “Catalonia separatist deal tested at ballot box”, in FT Weekend, London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 2:
To die out.
- Derived terms
- extinguishable, extinguishant, extinguishment, inextinguishability, self-extinguishing
- Related terms
- distinguish, extinct, extinction, extinguisher, fire extinguisher