smother

/ˈsmʌðər/ verb [T]

Definition

KILL › to kill someone by covering their face with something so that they cannot breathe

LOVE › to give someone too much love and attention so that they feel they have lost their freedom: I try not to smother him.

PREVENT › to prevent something from happening: I tried to smother my cough.

FIRE › to make a fire stop burning by covering it with something

(Definition of smother verb from the Cambridge Learner's Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

whatever happens

Read our blog about how the English language behaves.

Find words and meanings that have just started to be used in English, and let us know what you think of them.