Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun One that silences, especially a device attached to the muzzle of a firearm to muffle the sound of firing.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun One who or that which silences.
  • noun Same as muffler .
  • noun A device, invented by H. P. Maxim, for silencing, or greatly reducing, the noise produced by the discharge of a rifle or other firearm.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The muffler of an internal-combustion engine.
  • noun Any of various devices to silence the humming noise of telegraph wires.
  • noun A device for silencing the report of a firearm shooting its projectiles singly, as a tubular attachment for the muzzle having circular plates that permit the passage of the projectile but impart a rotary motion to, and thus retard, the exploding gases.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An attachment to a gun or an exhaust pipe that reduces the sound it emits.
  • noun Something that silences another thing.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a tubular acoustic device inserted in the exhaust system that is designed to reduce noise
  • noun short tube attached to the muzzle of a gun that deadens the sound of firing

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

silence +‎ -er

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Examples

  • A silencer is basically a muffler that can change the performace and sound of the snowmobile.

    Force V | SciFi, Fantasy & Horror Collectibles 2009

  • Should any of them lose the luster off that lone dimension, be sure your silencer is on ... and then give 'em the ol 'heave-ho.

    USATODAY.com - Fantasy Focus: Evaluating the NBA's one-category wonders 2005

  • I had an old Magnum .45 that I had had custom made for me, with a built-in silencer.

    old story nathreee 2010

  • If you have fired a weapon indoors without hearing protection, let alone in the dark and under stress, I think you will agree that lack of a silencer is a material burden on self defense.

    The Volokh Conspiracy » The Right to Bear Arms and 18-to-20-Year-Olds 2009

  • We found the paperwork for a Treasury Department stamp tax of two hundred dollars for a class III device, approved by ATF, called a suppressor, which you would call a silencer.

    A Bob Lee Swagger eBook Boxed Set Stephen Hunter 2009

  • We found the paperwork for a Treasury Department stamp tax of two hundred dollars for a class III device, approved by ATF, called a suppressor, which you would call a silencer.

    A Bob Lee Swagger eBook Boxed Set Stephen Hunter 2009

  • We found the paperwork for a Treasury Department stamp tax of two hundred dollars for a class III device, approved by ATF, called a suppressor, which you would call a silencer.

    A Bob Lee Swagger eBook Boxed Set Stephen Hunter 2009

  • The company claims that configuration options include an easy-to-read built-in pressure gauge and an exhaust silencer, which is a safety device in its own right.

    Manufacturingtalk - manufacturing industry news 2009

  • A silencer is a device that attaches to the end of a gun and helps diminish the noise that a gun creates when it fires.

    NewsObserver.com - Home 2008

  • But why didn't technology come up with a way to make it cheaper to fly at supersonic speeds, and quieter, some kind of silencer for that sonic boom.

    CNN Transcript Jun 12, 2003 2003

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