silence
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si·lence
(sī′ləns)silence
(ˈsaɪləns)si•lence
(ˈsaɪ ləns)n., v. -lenced, -lenc•ing,
interj. n.
silence
- obmutescence, obmutescent - Obmutescence is the act of becoming mute or silent—usually a stubborn, willful act; if you are inclined to silence, you are obmutescent.
- oyez - Meaning a call for silence and attention, it descends from Anglo-Norman oyez/oiez, "to hear" or "hear ye."
- silential - Describing something performed in silence.
- omerta - The code of silence in the Mafia, from the Italian word for "humility."
Silence
See Also: SECRECY
- Behaved a little like a stuffed frog with laryngitis —P. G. Wodehouse
- A brief silence, like an indrawn breath —Sylvia Plath
- A brittle silence stretched like iced cords through the kitchen —Anthony E. Stockanes
- Dole out his words like federal grants —Shelby Hearon
- Dumb as a drum with a hole in it —Charles Dickens
- Dumb as a yearning brute —Martin Cruz Smith
- The enfolding silence was like an echo —William Styron
- Fall silently, like dew on roses —John Dryden
- A great painful silence came down, as after the ringing of a church bell —Loren D. Estleman
- Grew still, like a congregation in silent prayer —Edgar Lee Masters
- Hears the silence … like a heart that has ceased to beat —Joyce Carol Oates
- (The room was suddenly full of … ) heavy silence, like a fallen cake —Raymond Chandler
- Her silence bore down on him like a tombstone —Heinrich Böll
- Her silence had a frequency all its own … like one of those dog whistles that make a sound only dogs can hear —a sound that cracked eggs, or something —Larry McMurtry
- He tried to say something but his tongue hung in his mouth like a dried fruit on a tree —Bernard Malamud
- (The crowded courtroom grew as) hushed and still as a deserted church —Robert Traver
- Hushed like a holy place —Lynn Sharon Schwartz
- A hush prevailed like that in an art gallery —Jean Stafford
- A hush rose like a noisy fog —Bernard Malamud
- I’ll be like an oyster —Ivan Turgenev
The character making this statement in A Month in the Country underscores it with not another syllable.
- Men fear silence as they fear solitude, because both give them a glimpse of the terror of life’s nothingness —André Maurois
- Moving as silently as fish under water —Ross Macdonald
- Mute like a faded tapestry —Louis MacNeice
- Mute as a fish —John Melton
- Mute as a gargoyle —Sharon Sheehe Stark
- My tongue lay like a stone in my mouth —Pat Conroy
- Noiseless as fear in a wilderness —John Keats
- Quiet as the visible murmur is their vaporizing breath —William Faulkner
- Quiet and meaningless as wind in dry grass —T. S. Eliot
- Quiet as a lady’s fart —Harold Adams
- Quiet as a lamb —William Langland
- Quiet as a mouse —Anon
- Quiet as an eel swimming in oil —Arthur Baer
- Quiet as a nun —William Wordsworth
English novelist Antonia Fraser borrowed Wordsworth’s simile for a mystery novel about a nun.
- (It was) quiet as a prayer —Mary Lee Settle
- (The whole immense room … was) quiet as a sepulchre —Walter De La Mare
- Quiet as a stone —John Keats
- Quiet as a street at night —Rupert Brooke
- Quiet as a street of tombs in a buried city —John Ruskin
- Quiet as a wasp in one’s nose —John Ray’s Proverbs
- Quiet as a wooden-legged man on a tin roof —Anon
This is one of many American folk similes incorporated by Carl Sandburg into his unique long poem, The People, Yes.
- (The house was as) quiet as death, as the inside of a skull —John Fowles
- Quiet as dust —Ken Kesey
- (Her mind was) quiet, as if a needle had been lifted from a phonograph record —Ellen Gilchrist
- (The town was all as) quiet as the hills —A. E. Coppard
- Quiet as two tombs —Robert B. Parker
- Quietly as a moth —Louis Bromfield
- Quietly as smoke rising —Loren D. Estleman
- Quiet … pressed on her eardrums like a weight —Hortense Calisher
- Quiet settled in the room like snow —Rumer Godden
- Significant silences like fingers that point —William Bronk
- The silence seemed to come drifting down like flakes of snow —Katherine Mansfield
- Silence fell like a guillotine in the middle of raw, bleeding conversations —Susan Fromberg Schaeffer
- The silence around them, like the silence inside a mouth, squirms with colors —James Dickey
- Silence as absolute as death —Robert Penn Warren
- Silence as deep as held breath —John Yount
- (It was Sunday, and there was a feeling of quietness,) a silence as though nature were at rest —W. Somerset Maugham
- Silence beat about them like waves —Mavis Gallant
- The silence between us … it lay coiled like a sleeping cat, graceful in its way but liable to claw if stroked indelicately —Scott Spencer
See Also: PEOPLE, INTERACTION
- Silence descending over the room like a blackwinged bird —John Rechy
- Silence drifting in … settling like dust —Helen Hudson
- The silence [at the other end of telephone] … felt absolute, as if he had been trying to telephone God —William Mcllvanney
- Silence filled the space [of empty room] like water in a lock —Julia Whedon
- Silence filled the sunlit room like gas —Harvey Swados
- Silence grand as Versailles —Lorrie Moore
- Silence heavy in the air like a threat —William Boyd
- Silence … hung in the air like a dead pheasant —Penelope Gilliatt
- Silence is deep as eternity —Thomas Carlyle
- Silence is his delight and instruction now … as if a blessed quiet came to him like water made into music —George Garrett
- Silence … like a great hand pressed across a mouth struggling to give vent to a scream —Stephen French Whitman
- Silence … like an explosion —John Fowles
- The silence like an ocean rolled, and broke against my ear —Emily Dickinson
- The silence of the place was like a sleep, so full of rest it seemed —Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- Silence … poured in between them like a drifting dune —Lawrence Durrell
- The silence ran between them like a fuse —William McIlvanney
- Silence, rather like somebody had died —Elizabeth Spencer
- Silence … rich and winey, like a rest in music —Zona Gale
- Silence rose like a mountain —Arthur A. Cohen
- Silence settled on him like a mist —Frank Ross
- Silence … so intense that it was like a third presence in the room —Antonia White
- Silence so thick that he imagined he could cut a slice out of it, like a succulent melon —Ella Leffland
- Silence … steadily filling up the bare white room, like water rising in a tank —Christopher Isherwood
- Silence stretched out like membrane on the point of tearing —Ross Macdonald
- Silence [in tension-filled room] stretched like a wire vibrating with impulses that were never heard —Hortense Calisher
- Silence that falls between them … like deep snow —Donald Justice
- Silence that fell upon her like a restraining hand —Nadine Gordimer
- Silence that made his own breathing seem like the breaking of distant surf —Mark Helprin
- Silence walked beside them like the ghost of a dead man —W. Somerset Maugham
- The silence [in the room] was like an invasion, a possession by the great silent mountains —Gina Berriault
- The silence was like a tranquilizer —Mignon F. Ballard
- Silent as a burglar behind a curtain —Raymond Chandler
- Silent as a cat on velvet —Reynolds Price
- Silent as a country churchyard —Thomas Babington Macaulay
- Silent as a ghost —Percy Bysshe Shelley
- (Rooms) silent as a lantern —Daniela Gioseffi
- Silent as a midnight thought —Anne Finch
- Silent as a prisoner —Richard Ford
- Silent as a snowflake settled on the ground —Donald Seaman
- Silent as a standing pool —William Wordsworth
- Silent as a stuffed sausage —Helen Hudson
- Silent as a white shark —Diane Ackerman
- Silent as despair —John Greenleaf Whittier
- Silent as despairing love —William Blake
A modern variant: “Silent as a breaking heart.”
- Silent as flight —Wendell Berry
- (An object) silent as pillows —Diane Wakoski
- Silent as rain or fleece —Lawrence Durrell
- [Thoughts] silent … as space —Lord George Byron
Here is the complete simile as it appeared in Don Juan: “There was a depth of feeling to embrace … thoughts, boundless, deep, but silent too as space.”
- Silent as the moon —John Milton
Many writers continue to link the moon with silence, with frequent twists and extensions. Some examples from contemporary literature include: “She was as silent and distant as the moon” from a short story by Kate Wheeler and “Silent as the dark side of the moon” from Water Music by T. Coraghessan Boyle.
- Silent as the pictures on the wall —Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- Silent as the rays of the sun —Slogan, Silent Glow Oil Burner Corporation
- Silent as thought —Sir William Davenant
- Silent as your shadow —Colley Cibber
- Silent … like an empty room —Carlos Baker
- Silent like a stockpiled bomb —C.D.B. Bryan
- Silently as a dream —William Cowper
“Silent as a dream” variations include: “Dumb as a dream” by Algernon Charles Swinburne and “Mute as any dream” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
- (Made his way through the yard as) silently as a tom-cat on the prowl —Donald Seaman
- Silently as a turtle —John Hersey
- Silent men, like still waters, are deep and dangerous —H. G. Bohn’s Handbook of Proverbs
- (The crowd was) silent … totally, in a hush like the air in the treetops —Paul Horgan
- A small silence came between us, as precise as a picture hanging on a wall —Jean Stafford
- So quiet … it felt like Sunday without church —Elizabeth Spencer
- (You were) so silent it was like playing with a snowman —Martin Cruz Smith
- Soundless as a gong before it’s struck —Donald Justice
- Soundless as any breeze —Dame Edith Sitwell
- The sound of the silence was like the hum of her own nerves stretched taut —William Humphrey
- Speechless as an anchorite —Lawrence Durrell
- Speechless as though his tongue were paralyzed —Ouida
- Stealthy silence as of a neatly executed crime —Joseph Conrad
- (The house was) still as a bottomless well —Hugh Walpole
- Still as a desert —Anon
- Still as a mouse —Richard Flecknoe
An extension of this by Sir Walter Scott: “Quiet as a mouse in a hole.”
- Still as a stone —The Holy Bible/Exodus
- Still as mourners —Mark Strand
- Still as the grave —William Shakespeare
- Still like gulls —W. H. Auden
- Stillness struck like a stopped guitar —Sharon Sheehe Stark
- A sudden silence … shook them like an inaudible explosion —Frank Tuohy
- There seemed to be a lot of silence in the house, like something deep and sticky you had to wade through —Jane Rogers
- There was absolute silence. It said as plainly as if silence were a language itself, “Go back.” —Flannery O’Connor
- (They walk close together,) silent as painted people —Julie Hayden
- Tight-lipped as a Sioux —Charles Johnson
- Tongues tight as immigrants —Daniel Berrigan
- Untalkative as native Vermonters —Max Lerner on commuters
- Unheard like dog whistles pitched too high for human ears —George Garrett
- Uses silence like a blackjack —Tim O’Brien
- Vocal chords seem glued together like two uncut pages in a book —Elyse Sommer
- Withdraw behind a wall of silence like children confronted with the disapproval of an authority figure —Margaret Millar
Silence
(See also SECRECY.)
have an ox on the tongue See BRIBERY.
lose one’s tongue To lose temporarily the power of speech, to be struck dumb. Such speechlessness is usually attributed to emotions such as shyness, fear, or surprise.
pipe down To become quiet or mute; to cease talking. In this expression, pipe may carry any of its numerous sound-related meanings, ranging from a shrill noise to the vocal cords themselves. In contemporary usage, the phrase is most often imperative.
“Pipe down,” replied the husband. “What do you expect for a $10 paint job, grand opera?” (Kansas City Star, March, 1932)
see a wolf To temporarily lose one’s voice, to become tongue-tied. The phrase expresses the old belief that if a man saw a wolf before the wolf’saw him, the man would temporarily lose the power of speech. The expression dates from the late 16th century.
Our young companion has seen a wolf, … and has lost his tongue in consequence. (Sir Walter Scott, Quentin Durward, 1823)
silence
Past participle: silenced
Gerund: silencing
Imperative |
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silence |
silence |
Noun | 1. | silence - the state of being silent (as when no one is speaking); "there was a shocked silence"; "he gestured for silence" |
2. | silence - the absence of sound; "he needed silence in order to sleep"; "the street was quiet" speechlessness - the property of being speechless quietness, soundlessness - the property of making no sound sound property - an attribute of sound sound - the particular auditory effect produced by a given cause; "the sound of rain on the roof"; "the beautiful sound of music" | |
3. | silence - a refusal to speak when expected; "his silence about my contribution was surprising" uncommunicativeness - the trait of being uncommunicative | |
4. | silence - the trait of keeping things secret uncommunicativeness - the trait of being uncommunicative mum - secrecy; "mum's the word" | |
Verb | 1. | silence - cause to be quiet or not talk; "Please silence the children in the church!" shush - silence (someone) by uttering `shush!' conquer, inhibit, stamp down, suppress, subdue, curb - to put down by force or authority; "suppress a nascent uprising"; "stamp down on littering"; "conquer one's desires" shout down - silence or overwhelm by shouting |
2. | silence - keep from expression, for example by threats or pressure; "All dissenters were silenced when the dictator assumed power" |
silence
quiet sound, noise, racket, din, uproar, cacophony, tumult
reticence talk, talking, speech, shouting, whispering, yelling, murmuring, chatter, clamour, babble, bawling, hubbub, prattle, verbosity, garrulousness, loquaciousness
quieten rouse, amplify, make louder
suppress support, encourage, spread, promote, broadcast, foster, publicize, disseminate, promulgate, ungag
"Silence is the virtue of fools" [Francis Bacon Advancement of Learning]
"Silence is more eloquent than words" [Thomas Carlyle Heroes and Hero-Worship]
"Silence is golden"
"Silence means consent"
silence
nounsilence
[ˈsaɪləns]a two minutes' silence → dos minutos de silencio
silence! → ¡silencio!
they stood in silence → permanecieron en silencio
in dead or complete silence → en silencio absoluto
there was silence on the matter → no se hizo comentario alguno sobre la cuestión
to pass over sth in silence → silenciar algo
to reduce sb to silence → dejar a algn sin argumentos
silence is golden → en boca cerrada no entran moscas
silence gives or means or lends consent → quien calla otorga
a sudden shot broke the silence → un disparo repentino rompió el silencio
he broke his silence for the first time yesterday → rompió su silencio ayer por primera vez
silence
[ˈsaɪləns]There was a shocked silence → Il y eut un silence choqué.
in silence → en silence
to break one's silence → rompre son silence
the right to silence → le droit de garder le silence
a conspiracy of silence → une conspiration du silence
silence
silence
[ˈsaɪləns]silence! → silenzio!
in (dead or complete) silence → in (totale or perfetto) silenzio
there was silence on or about the subject → non si è parlato dell'argomento
to pass over sth in silence → passare qc sotto silenzio