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Entry 8 senses · 3 variants Webster, 1913

Smother

/smŭth'-ẽr/ · Smoth·er · IPA /ˈsməðər/
01 v. t. To destroy the life of by suffocation; to deprive of the air necessary for life; to cover up closely so as to prevent breathing; to suffoca…
imp. & p. p. Smothered; p. pr. & vb. n. Smothering
  1. 1.
    To destroy the life of by suffocation; to deprive of the air necessary for life; to cover up closely so as to prevent breathing; to suffocate; as, to smother a child.
  2. 2.
    To affect as by suffocation; to stife; to deprive of air by a thick covering, as of ashes, of smoke, or the like; as, to smother a fire.
  3. 3.
    Hence, to repress the action of; to cover from public view; to suppress; to conceal; as, to smother one's displeasure.
02 v. i. To be suffocated or stifled.
  1. 1.
    To be suffocated or stifled.
  2. 2.
    To burn slowly, without sufficient air; to smolder.
03 n. Stifling smoke; thick dust.
  1. 1.
    Stifling smoke; thick dust.
  2. 2.
    A state of suppression.[Obs.]
    “Not to keep their suspicions in smother.” — Bacon.
  3. 3.
    That which smothers or causes a sensation of smothering, as smoke, fog, the foam of the sea, a confused multitude of things.
    “Then they vanished, swallowed up in the grayness of the evening and the smoke and smother of the storm.” — The Century.
Phrases & compounds
Smother fly — an aphid.