I. ˈsīlən(t)s noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Old French, from Latin silentium, from silent-, silens silent
1. : the state of keeping or being silent : forbearance from speech or noise : muteness
that silence in the kitchen when, on a drowsy afternoon, the ticking of the clock would stop — Carson McCullers
sat close together smoking contentedly and in silence — Fred Majdalany
complete radio silence guarded whereabouts of the … powerful task force — K.M.Dodson
— often used interjectionally
2.
a. : absence of sound : absence of noise
silence of midnight
b. : a general stillness : a relative stillness in which particular sounds may be distinctly heard
rooster would crow lingeringly in the sunny silence — Marjory S. Douglas
starlings chattered in a rural silence — Aldous Huxley
3. : absence of mention:
a. : oblivion , obscurity
wrote it in the thirties of last century and after seventy years of silence someone gave it forth again — H.J.Laski
b.
(1) : failure to make something known : tacit omission
in the silence of any positive rule it would be presumed that foreign corporations were by comity permitted to make contracts — Charles Fairman
took advantage of the fundamental law's silence to twist it to their own purposes — F.A.Ogg & Harold Zink
the studied silences of the document as to the existence of God — W.L.Sperry
(2) : secrecy
broke the silence which has shrouded use of radar for aircraft navigation by the armed forces — David Mannheimer
c. : withholding from written communication
a decade of silence on the part of such a writer — M.D.Geismar
broadly : cessation of any state of communicativeness or productivity
producing sculptors of this authority after so long and heavy a silence — J.T.Soby
4.
a. : a period of being silent : a space of time marked by the cessation or absence of speech or of noises
a movie of waiting and of silences at the pithead and in the pit as the rescuers work their way toward the trapped men — Time
specifically : such a period observed in commemoration
b. : rest 5
elegiac meter of the poems (in which a silence takes the place of the last foot of the distich) — Madeleine S. & J.L.Miller
5.
a. usually capitalized : the state beyond death
b. : death
6. : lack of flavor or odor in distilled spirits : flatness
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
transitive verb
1. : to compel or reduce to silence : cause to be still : stop the noise of : still
whatever specious arguments would silence an opponent — John Dewey
the air intake must be silenced to some degree — R.L.Boyer
2.
a. : to restrain from the exercise of any function involving the expression of opinion ; especially : to restrain from the act of preaching
b. : to put down : repress , suppress
violent means were used to silence unwelcome opinions — R.P.Ludlum
a nation that silences or intimidates original minds — H.S.Commager
3. : to cause to cease hostile firing by return fire or bombing
silence the batteries of an enemy
silenced the guns with hand grenades — P.W.Thompson
intransitive verb
1. : to become silent
2. : to cause silence
the common denominator silences and satisfies — B.N.Cardozo