Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The condition or quality of being or keeping still and silent.
- n. The absence of sound; stillness.
- n. A period of time without speech or noise.
- n. Refusal or failure to speak out.
- v. To make silent or bring to silence: silenced the crowd with a gesture.
- v. To curtail the expression of; suppress: silencing all criticism; silenced their opponents.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The state of being or keeping silent; forbearance or restraint of sound; abstinence from speech or other noise; muteness; reticence: as, to listen in silence; the chairman rapped for silence.
- n. Absence of sound or noise; general stillness within the range or the power of hearing: as, the silence of midnight; the silence of the tomb.
- n. Absence of mention: as, the silence of Scripture (on a particular subject); oblivion; obscurity.
- n. In distilled spirits, want of flavor and odor; flatness; deadness. See silent spirit, under silent.
- n. In music, same as rest, 8.
- n. Synonyms See silent.
- 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.
- 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.
- Hence To make quiescent; put at rest or into abeyance; stop the activity of: as, to silence one's conscience.
Wiktionary
- n. The lack of any sound.
- n. form of meditative worship practiced by the Society of Friends (Quakers); meeting for worship.
- n. The action of refraining from speaking.
- v. To make something silent.
- v. To suppress criticism etc.
- interj. be quiet
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. The state of being silent; entire absence of sound or noise; absolute stillness.
- n. Forbearance from, or absence of, speech; taciturnity; muteness.
- n. Secrecy.
- n. The cessation of rage, agitation, or tumilt; calmness; quiest.
- n. Absence of mention; oblivion.
- interj. Be silent; -- used elliptically for
let there be silence , orkeep silence . - v. To compel to silence; to cause to be still; to still; to hush.
- v. To put to rest; to quiet.
- v. To restrain from the exercise of any function, privilege of instruction, or the like, especially from the act of preaching.
- v. To cause to cease firing, as by a vigorous cannonade.
WordNet 3.0
- v. cause to be quiet or not talk
- n. the state of being silent (as when no one is speaking)
- n. the trait of keeping things secret
- n. a refusal to speak when expected
- n. the absence of sound
- v. keep from expression, for example by threats or pressure
Etymologies
- Middle English, from Old French, from Latin silentium, from silēns, silent-, present participle of silēre, to be silent.
Examples
“Now, of these four modes of misleading others by the tongue, when there is a _justa causa_ (supposing there can be such) -- a material lie, that is an untruth which is not a lie, an equivocation, an evasion, and silence, -- First, I have no difficulty whatever in recognizing as allowable the method of _silence_.”
““The most likely outcome of this silence is a raise,” Chapman writes.”
Negotiate Your Salary More Effectively | Lifehacker Australia
“To this day, when a glass drops, she's reflexively brought back to what she describes as a "silence of death all around.”
The Huffington Post: Shira Hirschman Weiss: How One Survivor Of Terrorism Is Giving Back
“Whatever the cause might be of the diffidence Mr. Harris sees in the approach of scientists to issues of value and morality, their silence is the sine qua non of arguments like his.”
The Wall Street Journal: What Unitarians Know (and Sam Harris Doesn't)
“You have to look at yourself naked in silence, which is why television, radio, and any other distractions are so popular with society.”
“I think their silence is an example of good old Canadian patriotism.”
Allright, I’m Sensing A Theme Here… « Unambiguously Ambidextrous
“Margaret's goal was always to get away from the crowds and experience what she referred to as the silence of the woods.”
“Of course, you can't win, because if you say nothing, your silence is also understood to be an admission of guilt.”
“IFILL: Well I think that's what we're really seeing from this and I hope we don't miss this opportunity to break what I call the silence that surrounds this history.”
“A murder of crows looks on in silence from the eucalyptus trees above as we stand over the bodies — who look as if they might roll over, wake from a dream and question us about the blood drying on their scalps, the bullets lodged in the back of their skulls, to ask where their wives and children are this morning, and why this hovering of flies, the taste of flatbread and chai gone from their mouths as they stretch and rise, wondering who these strangers are who would kick their hard feet, saying”
February « 2010 « poetry dispatch & other notes from the underground
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘silence’.
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henryar's list
marmoleum, menagerie, cyan, ochre, pilfer, discombobulate, loquacious, iridescent, amethyst, derelict, botulism, equilibrium and 240 more...
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Undo
A list of terms that denote separating one thing from another, or deconstructing a thing into its parts or to a former state. E.g., untie, divorce, unscramble.
untie, divorce, unscramble, disunite, disjoin, undo, separate, disassemble, uncouple, unhitch, disassociate, disaffiliate and 178 more...
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The Gentle Life
Words relating to quiet, inactivity, peace.
desuetude, languor, halcyon, placidness, quiescent, elysian, relaxation, meditation, lassitude, hiatus, respite, pacific and 16 more...
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Death Valley
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quiescence.
words used to describe quiet activity
susurration, whisper, shh, quiescence, silence, sneaking, tiptoe, eavesdrop
ruzuzu Szymborska! Apr 29, 2011
marky like anything else, the value of silence depends on the circumstances. Apr 29, 2011
dontcry bilby -- HAR! Nov 30, 2009
bilby Practiced for hours, I did. Nov 28, 2009
PossibleUnderscore It's music to my ears.
Nov 28, 2009
pterodactyl Ooh, bilby, what a nice pronunciation! You enunciate this word perfectly. Nov 28, 2009
seanahan "Am I afraid of silence? I wouldn't ask, except I never seem to allow it. I watch tv, listen to music, radio, podcasts, if I'm with friends talk to them, and sometimes when I'm alone I talk to myself. The only time I consistently ever allow quiet is before drifting off to sleep (see dreams). Perhaps it is telling that I can accept no aural stimulus if I am deeply ingrained in reading a novel or solving a math problem. It could be that by listening to one thing while doing another prevents me from the exertion of concentrating full brain power on a given task. Have I been handicapping myself this whole time? If I put cotton balls in my ears would I be some great genius? Or am I fooling myself, am I nothing more than what I am? Does music provide a soundtrack to my life, neither improving nor harming my capabilities, just heightening my experiences?" -- excerpt from the autobiography of Seanahan Apr 23, 2009
Prolagus It reminds me a beautiful book "iRead", The seventh son by Orson Scott Card. The boy has a gift for creating, but there is something (hard to define) against him, that they call the Unmaker.
Look, I'm talking about books! Jun 13, 2008
bilby "When I pronounce the word Future,
the first syllable already belongs to the past.
When I pronounce the word Silence,
I destroy it.
When I pronounce the word Nothing,
I make something no non-being can hold."
- Wislawa Szymborska, 'The Three Oddest Words', translated by S. Baranczak & C. Cavanagh. Jun 13, 2008
bilby "'There are two types of silence,' said Kasper, 'or at least that's how it has sounded to me. There is the high silence, the silence behind prayer. The silence when one is close to the Divine. The silence that is the dense, unborn presence of all sounds. And then there is the other silence. Hopelessly far from God. And from other people. The silence of absence. The silence of loneliness.'
He felt the young man's openness. There was contact. Interference. They were close to each other.
'I know them,' said Franz Fieber. 'The two kinds of silence. I know them both.'
'Those two people I sat across from, they were acoustically dead,' said Kasper. 'Something had gone out of them.'"
- 'The Quiet Girl', Peter Høeg. Mar 19, 2008