n. That which smothers or appears to smother, in any sense.n. Smoldering; slow combustion.n. Confusion; excess with disorder: as, a perfect smother of letters and papers.n. The state of being stifled; suppression.To suffocate; stifle; obstruct, more or less completely, the respiration of.To extinguish or deaden, as fire, by covering, overlaying, or otherwise excluding the air: as, to smother a fire with ashes.Hence, figuratively and generally, to reduce to a low degree of vigor or activity; suppress or do away with; extinguish; stifle; cover up; conceal; hide: as, the committee's report was smothered.In cookery, to cook in a close dish: as, beefsteak smothered with onions.To daub or smear.Synonyms Smother, Choke, Strangle, Throttle, Stifle, Suffocate. To smother, in the stricter sense, is to put to death by preventing air from entering the nose or mouth. To choke is to imperil or destroy life by stoppage, external or internal, in the windpipe. To strangle is to put to death by compression of the windpipe. Throttle is the same as strangle, except that it is often used for partial or attempted strangling, and that it suggests its derivation. Suffocate and stifle are essentially the same, except that stifle is the stronger: they mean to kill by impeding respiration.To be suffocated.To breathe with great difficulty by reason of smoke, dust. close covering or wrapping, or the like.Of a fire, to burn very slowly for want of air; smolder.Figuratively, to perish, grow feeble, or decline, by suppression or concealment; be stifled; be suppressed or concealed.