Silence

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“
Looking around the world right now, I find myself asking something similar: Don't we realize that our Silence is a form of consent?

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Definitions (3)

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  1. To cause to be or keep silent; put or bring to silence; restrain from speech or noise; stop the noise of: as, to silence a battery or a gun-boat. Still in thy right hand carry gentle peace, To silence envious tongues. Shak., Hen. VIII., iii. 2. 446. It is the little rift within the lute That by and by will make the music mute, And ever widening slowly silence all. Tennyson, Merlin and Vivien.
  2. To restrain from speech about something; cause or induce to be silent on a particular subject or class of subjects; make silent or speechless, as by restraint of privilege or license, or by unanswerable argument. Is it therefore The ambassador is silenced? Shak., Hen. VIII., i. 1. 97. Complaints being made against him unto the Bishop's courts, he was for a while then put under the circumstances of a silenced minister. C. Mather, Mag. Chris., iii. 1.
  3. Hence To make quiescent; put at rest or into abeyance; stop the activity of: as, to silence one's conscience. Had they duly considered the extent of infinite knowledge and power, these would have silenced their scruples. D. Rogers. They have made the happy discovery that the way to silence religious disputes is to take no notice of them. Jefferson, Notes on Virginia (1797), p. 268.

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Examples (50)

  • “Silence, Silence!” I often say to myself: “Be silent, thou poor fool; and prepare for that Divine Silence which is now not far!”—On the whole, write to me whenever you can; and be not weary of well-doing. —  The Correspondence of Thomas Carlyle and Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1834-1872, Vol II
  • Silence, that is, except for a continual crackling that disrupted all chance of picking up any sort of clear reception It was odd. —  096 - Bequest of Evil
  • WASHINGTON (JTA) -- Silence, sometimes golden, also may be perceived as yellow. —  Top Stories - Google News
  • Silence, the great Empire of Silence: higher than the stars; deeper than the Kingdoms of Death! —  The Best of the World's Classics, Vol. V (of X) - Great Britain and Ireland III
  • This would ordinarily have been closed but, owing to the illness of the prisoner, and the strong desire of the governor that he should live to be sent to Ava, it had been opened to allow a free passage of air The trooper sprung from his couch, as Stanley made a slight sound before attempting to enter; but Stanley said, in Hindustani Silence! —  On the Irrawaddy A Story of the First Burmese War
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