Definition

Verb: 1. To extinguish; to cause a flame, fire, or light to stop burning. 2. To end something suddenly or completely; to kill or destroy.

Usage and Examples

• To extinguish a flame or light:
  • She snuffed out the candle before going to sleep.
  • The firefighters worked tirelessly to snuff out the blaze.
• To end something abruptly or kill:
  • The new regulations threatened to snuff out small businesses.
  • The dictator's regime snuffed out all political opposition.

Advanced Usage

• The phrase often carries a connotation of something being ended decisively, finally, and sometimes violently or prematurely.
• It can be used metaphorically for non-physical things like hopes, dreams, or movements.
  • The bad news snuffed out his last bit of optimism.

Variants and Related Words

• Snuff (verb): The base verb, also meaning to extinguish a candle, typically by pinching the wick or using a snuffer.
  • He snuffed the candle with his fingers.

Synonyms

• Extinguish
• Quench
• Douse
• Stifle
• Crush
• Annihilate

Related Phrasal Verbs / Idioms

• Snuff it (idiom, informal): To die.
  • The old dog finally snuffed it after a long illness.

Verb

1. put out, as of fires, flames, or lights
   • Too big to be extinguished at once, the forest fires at best could be contained
   • quench the flames
   • snuff out the candles
2. put an end to; kill
   • The Nazis snuffed out the life of many Jewish children