Definition

1. Verb (intransitive):

   • To burn slowly with smoke but no flame: To undergo a slow, flameless combustion, often producing smoke.
   • To exist in a suppressed or latent state: To be present but not openly expressed, often referring to emotions like anger, resentment, or passion.

2. Noun:

   • A slow, smoky, flameless fire: A fire that burns with smoke and heat but without visible flames.

Examples of Usage

• Verb:
  • The logs continued to smolder in the fireplace long after the flames had died down.
  • Resentment smoldered within him for years after the argument.
• Noun:
  • Firefighters doused the smolder to prevent it from reigniting.

Advanced Usage

• "to smolder with": To be filled with a strong, suppressed emotion.
  • Her eyes smoldered with a quiet intensity.
• "to smolder away": To continue burning or existing in a low, persistent state.
  • The conflict smoldered away for decades.

Variants and Related Words

• Smouldering (adj, UK spelling variant): The preferred spelling in British English for both the verb and adjective forms.
  • A smouldering ruin. (A ruin with fires still burning beneath the surface.)
• Smolderer (n, rare): One who or that which smolders.

Synonyms

• Verb: Glow, seethe, simmer, fester.
• Noun: Glow, embers.

Related Phrasal Verbs

(Note: "smolder" is not commonly used with particles to form standard phrasal verbs. The advanced usages above function similarly.)

Related Idioms

• A smoldering look/glance: A look that conveys strong, suppressed emotion, often desire or anger.
  • He gave her a smoldering look across the room.
• To reduce to a smolder: To cause something to burn down to a state of slow, flameless combustion.
  • The campfire was reduced to a smolder by morning.

Noun

1. a fire that burns with thick smoke but no flame
   • the smoulder suddenly became a blaze

Verb

1. have strong suppressed feelings
2. burn slowly and without a flame
   • a smoldering fire