extinguish
Americanverb (used with object)
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to put out (a fire, light, etc.); put out the flame of (something burning or lighted).
to extinguish a candle.
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to put an end to or bring to an end; wipe out of existence; annihilate.
to extinguish hope.
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to obscure or eclipse, as by superior brilliance.
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Law. to discharge (a debt), as by payment.
verb
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to put out or quench (a light, flames, etc)
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to remove or destroy entirely; annihilate
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archaic to eclipse or obscure by or as if by superior brilliance
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law to discharge (a debt)
Other Word Forms
- extinguishable adjective
- extinguisher noun
- extinguishment noun
- nonextinguishable adjective
- nonextinguished adjective
- preextinguish verb (used with object)
- preextinguishment noun
- self-extinguishing adjective
- unextinguishable adjective
- unextinguished adjective
Etymology
Origin of extinguish
1535–45; < Latin ex ( s ) tingu ( ere ) ( ex- ex- 1 + stinguere to quench) + -ish 2
Explanation
To extinguish something means to put an end to it, and get rid of it completely. Water can extinguish a fire; nasty smells can extinguish your appetite. Extinguish comes from the Latin word for quench, but while we might think that quenching something, say our thirst, is good, the word extinguish often has sinister overtones. In a genocide, one group tries to extinguish another — too quench their hatred, by killing everyone in the other group.
Vocabulary lists containing extinguish
A Wrinkle in Time
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100 Great Words from "Fahrenheit 451" -- Part I Vocabulary
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The Great Fire
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It would extinguish a radical experiment with an ugly shadow stretching from Lebanon to Indonesia.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 25, 2026
Addressing the LAFD’s failure to fully extinguish the Lachman fire, which later reignited into the Palisades fire, Chief Jaime Moore conceded at a January board meeting that mop-up procedures needed to be strengthened.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 18, 2026
It will travel to a US Navy base on the island for pierside repairs, authorities said, after a blaze broke out in the laundry facility last week and took hours to extinguish.
From BBC • Mar. 18, 2026
"Dubai Civil Defence teams responded immediately and are continuing their efforts to fully extinguish the fire," the Dubai Media Office posted on X.
From Barron's • Feb. 28, 2026
We extinguish our fire and head upstream until it's almost nightfall.
From "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
