EXTINGUISHING Synonyms: 192 Similar and Opposite Words

extinguishing

verb

present participle of extinguish

as in choking

to cause to cease burning the fire in the skillet was quickly extinguished by slamming the lid on

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in destroying

to bring to a complete end the physical soundness, existence, or usefulness of a fatal blunder that extinguished all hope that the team would actually win the play-offs

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in shushing

to stop the noise or speech of her final, telling point extinguished her opponents on the city council

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of extinguishing Her passion for Pol is a flare, burning brightly and extinguishing quickly. — Literary Hub, 5 Oct. 2026 Chinese authorities have tightened their grip on the media, the legal profession, and civil society, limiting the space for Chinese citizens to discuss mounting social woes and extinguishing emerging calls for deeper political reform. — Carl Minzner, Foreign Affairs, 5 Oct. 2026 Crews continued mopping up the fire Monday, strengthening containment lines and extinguishing hot spots at least 300 feet inside the perimeter. — Sacbee.com, 21 Sep. 2026 Since then, southern Italians have attributed all sorts of miracles to his intercession, including extinguishing the volcanic fires of Mount Vesuvius in 1631. — Clare Whitton, The Conversation, 17 Sep. 2026 After extinguishing the blaze, authorities found two people dead inside a 2019 McLaren. — Latoya Gayle, PEOPLE, 14 Sep. 2026 At least three firefighting planes, nine helicopters, 169 fire extinguishing trucks and more than 1,000 firefighters were deployed, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. — ABC News, 9 Sep. 2026 In the aftermath of the massacre, around 258 claims were filed, but the government later enacted the Indemnity Act of 1961, shielding officials from legal liability and extinguishing the claims. — Michelle Gumede, Los Angeles Times, 3 Sep. 2026 Firefighters were then able to contain the fire to a single room, extinguishing the blaze in approximately 15 minutes after crews arrived. — Ana Maria Soler, CBS News, 22 Aug. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for extinguishing

Verb

And how about the Colts choking yesterday against the TITANS of all teams?

— Zach Dean OutKick, FOXNews.com, 19 Oct. 2026
Among those arrested were individuals accused of choking their partners and assaulting their children, the sheriff’s office said.

— Tanya Babbar, Houston Chronicle, 16 Oct. 2026

Definition of choking

Verb

After destroying much of Gaza and killing tens of thousands of Palestinians, Israel has regained military control of nearly 70 percent of the strip.

— Dalia Dassa Kaye, Foreign Affairs, 27 Oct. 2026
But if firms lean on AI to cut lower-level work, the risk is destroying the very avenue of apprenticeship that produces future senior associates and managers.

— Tim Brackney, Forbes.com, 26 Oct. 2026

Definition of destroying

Verb

Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim went to 3-0 for the week with a crowd-shushing rally from 2 down to a 2-and-1 victory over Collin Morikawa and Wyndham Clark.

— ABC News, ABC News, 26 Sep. 2026
Trae Young won Madison Square Garden’s undying enmity in the 2021 playoffs for the Atlanta Hawks, punctuating game-breaking shots by shushing the crowd or bowing to the fans and waving goodbye.

— Leah Asmelash, CNN Money, 9 June 2026

Definition of shushing

Verb

Hersh was a curious, radical listener who dreamt of quenching his wanderlust by traveling the world.

— Rachel Goldberg-Polin, Time, 6 Oct. 2026
Expect art displays from local artists and makers, live music and performances, mouthwatering grub, and a thirst-quenching beer and margarita booth.

— Ashlyn Ware, Midwest Living, 15 Sep. 2026

Definition of quenching

Verb

Following the attack, the Israeli military began forcing Palestinian families to leave their homes in parts of the city as forces began demolishing homes and businesses.

— Oren Liebermann, CNN Money, 27 Oct. 2026
Photographs from Hebron showed Israeli bulldozers demolishing at least one Palestinian building.

— Chantal Da Silva, NBC news, 23 Oct. 2026

Definition of demolishing

Verb

She is whisked off to prison midway through You Can See Everything, all but silencing her for the viewer.

— Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 20 Oct. 2026
Added to the violence of destruction and looting is the less visible but equally devastating violence of silencing.

— Ollivier Pourriol, Vanity Fair, 19 Oct. 2026

Definition of silencing

Verb

Politics as usual As midterm elections approach, candidates up and down the ballot are blanketing the airwaves and digital channels with ads against data centers.

— Barbara A. Trish, The Conversation, 26 Oct. 2026
As midterm elections approach, candidates up and down the ballot are blanketing the airwaves and digital channels with ads against data centers.

— Barbara A. Trish, Washington Post, 26 Oct. 2026

Definition of blanketing

Verb

The song is a cautionary tale about a brothel in New Orleans known for ruining many poor girls.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 23 Oct. 2026
As wet electrodes get thicker, the liquid binder migrates unevenly during drying, ruining the battery‘s structure.

— Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 30 Sep. 2026

Definition of ruining

Browse Nearby Words

extinguishes

extinguishing

extirpate

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Style

“Extinguishing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/extinguishing. Accessed 29 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of extinguishing

verb

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