I. si ‧ lence 1 W2 /ˈsaɪləns/ BrE AmE noun
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ silence , ↑ silencer ; verb : ↑ silence ; adverb : ↑ silently ; adjective : ↑ silent ]
1 . NO NOISE [uncountable] complete absence of sound or noise SYN quiet
silence of
Nothing disturbed the silence of the night.
silence falls/descends (on/upon something)
After the explosion, an eerie silence fell upon the scene.
break/shatter the silence
A loud scream shattered the silence.
2 . NO TALKING [uncountable and countable] complete quiet because nobody is talking:
There was a brief silence before anyone answered.
in silence
The four men sat in silence.
complete/total/dead silence
‘How long have you been here?’ I asked. There was complete silence.
‘Silence in court!’ roared the judge.
embarrassed/awkward/stunned etc silence
There was an awkward silence between them.
The accused exercised his right to silence (=the legal right to choose to say nothing) .
3 . NO DISCUSSION/ANSWER [uncountable] failure or refusal to discuss something or answer questions about something
silence on
The government’s silence on such an important issue seems very strange.
Once again the answer was a deafening silence (=a very noticeable refusal to discuss something) .
4 . NO COMMUNICATION [uncountable] failure to write a letter to someone, telephone them etc:
After two years of silence, he suddenly got in touch with us again.
5 . one-minute/two-minute etc silence a period of time in which everyone stops talking as a sign of honour and respect towards someone who has died
• • •
COLLOCATIONS (for Meanings 1 & 2)
■ adjectives
▪ complete/total/absolute/utter silence
They sat in complete silence.
|
The silence in the room was absolute.
▪ dead silence (=complete silence)
There was a gasp from Peter and then a dead silence.
▪ a long silence
‘He’s dead.’ There was a long silence.
▪ a short/brief silence
After a brief silence, Katherine nodded.
▪ an awkward/uncomfortable/embarrassed silence
‘Fred tells me you like books,’ Steve said, after an awkward silence.
▪ a stunned/shocked silence
There was a stunned silence at the other end of the phone.
▪ stony silence (=unfriendly silence)
Harrison stared at him in stony silence.
▪ a tense silence
There was a brief, tense silence.
▪ an eerie silence (=one that is strange and rather frightening)
An eerie silence descended over the house.
▪ an ominous silence (=one that makes you feel that something bad is going to happen)
‘How long will she be ill?’ There was a short, ominous silence.
▪ a sudden silence
At the mention of John, a sudden silence fell on the room.
■ verbs
▪ there is (a) silence
There was silence in the library for several moments.
▪ break/shatter the silence (=end the silence)
The sound of a car engine broke the silence.
▪ disturb the silence (=end the silence by making a sound)
Nothing moved, no sound disturbed the silence.
▪ silence falls/descends (=a silence begins)
A sudden silence fell over the room.
▪ lapse into silence (=to stop talking and be quiet)
'I don't want any,' he said, and lapsed into silence again.
II. silence 2 BrE AmE verb [transitive]
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ silence , ↑ silencer ; verb : ↑ silence ; adverb : ↑ silently ; adjective : ↑ silent ]
1 . to make someone stop talking, or stop something making a noise:
She held up her hand to silence the children.
2 . to make someone stop expressing opposition or criticisms – used especially in news reports:
attempts to silence the rumours
Barnes has failed to silence his critics.