How to Use smother in a Sentence

smother

1 of 2 verb

• She smothered the fire with a blanket.
• He tried to smother her with a pillow.
• In the process, the Wildcats smothered Michigan with 54 points in the paint.
  — Justin Spears, The Arizona Republic, 10 Mar. 2022
• Bet the under as the Bruins will smother the Ducks on the outside and keep the score low.
  — Ian Firstenberg, Chicago Tribune, 11 Feb. 2023
• Even a 1-inch layer of soil can be enough to smother roots.
  — Beth Botts, Chicago Tribune, 24 July 2022
• In one case, the region is smothered in a blanket of snow.
  — oregonlive, 23 Feb. 2023
• Now the earth is being smothered as fires rage across the planet.
  — David Shribman, BostonGlobe.com, 6 July 2023
• The film consists of smothering close-ups of the lead actor, Geza Rohrig.
  — Giles Harvey, New York Times, 19 Dec. 2023
• Class broke through the line and smothered the ball for a Mission Hills first down at the Oceanside 45-yard line.
  — Rick Hoff, San Diego Union-Tribune, 2 Sep. 2023
• This is not a deep and pure love — this is clutching and smothering.
  — Amy Dickinson, Washington Post, 1 Oct. 2023
• If a kitchen fire does start, first try to smother the flames with a pot lid or cookie sheet.
  — oregonlive, 2 Nov. 2021
• Survivors of the Maui fire in Lahaina say they were overwhelmed by the speed of the blaze, the smothering smoke and the lack of escape routes.
  — Joshua Partlow, John Farrell, Brady Dennis, Brianna Sacks and Joanna Slater, The Washington Post, Anchorage Daily News, 14 Aug. 2023
• The crispy side is smothered in the same poblano queso from the new menu item and topped with shredded cheddar cheese.
  — Antonia Debianchi, Peoplemag, 25 Oct. 2023
• The debris flow, as it’s called, smothered a grove of Douglas firs that were at least 100 years old.
  — Somini Sengupta, New York Times, 13 Sep. 2023
• Sarah has a pillow and is smothering a woman whom she’s caught in the bed.
  — Elliot Ackerman, WIRED, 12 Feb. 2024
• The oils smother the eggs and larvae of many insects and decrease problems down the line.
  — oregonlive, 17 Jan. 2022
• Subtract is at war with the tendency to smother a record in the stuff most people would want to hear.
  — Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 8 May 2023
• By this time, that same black cloud was starting to smother Lahaina.
  — Joshua Partlow, John Farrell, Brady Dennis, Brianna Sacks and Joanna Slater, The Washington Post, Anchorage Daily News, 14 Aug. 2023
• If a small grease fire starts on the stovetop, smother the flames by sliding a lid over the pan and turning off the burner.
  — Taylor Pettaway, San Antonio Express-News, 23 Nov. 2021
• Rake most of them off the grass, because a matted layer of whole leaves can smother the grass plants.
  — Beth Botts, Chicago Tribune, 22 Oct. 2022
• Its fish was muddy and, worse, it was smothered in tartar sauce.
  — Tim Carman, Washington Post, 28 Feb. 2024
• It is also designed to be oversized, but it’s cut in a way that doesn’t smother the body.
  — Robb Report Studio, Robb Report, 17 Oct. 2023
• The meals cast new light on her grandmother’s post-church smothered pork chops and cast-iron cornbread.
  — Kim Severson, New York Times, 20 Feb. 2024
• His crew opened fire on a nearby tree line as Cashe pulled the wounded from the wreckage, and others raced to smother the flames.
  — Dan Lamothe, Anchorage Daily News, 16 Dec. 2021
• The goal in doing this is to smother the flames, so they are extinguished quickly.
  — oregonlive, 2 Nov. 2021
• If quarterback Dak Prescott and the offense take care of the ball, the defense should smother Washington and keep the score within the spread.
  — New York Times, 23 Dec. 2021
• To save bullets, children were sometimes pushed into the pile alive to be smothered and crushed.
  — Joshua Hammer, Smithsonian Magazine, 29 Nov. 2023
• NC State used full-court pressure to smother Butler's guards.
  — Akeem Glaspie, The Indianapolis Star, 26 Nov. 2022
• Kizuna is known for its toro chashu ramen, which uses pork belly the restaurant ages in-house, smothered in a creamy chicken broth.
  — Zoe Glasser, Washington Post, 14 Feb. 2024
• Benjamin’s defense was smothering, forcing the Longhorn offense to finish the contest shooting 37% from the field.
  — Charles Baggarly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 7 Mar. 2024

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smother

2 of 2 noun

• Then mulch with leaves and smother the new plants that might try to emerge.
  — Jeff Lowenfels, Anchorage Daily News, 22 June 2023
• To serve, place chips in a bowl smother with yogurt dip.
  — Pervaiz Shallwani, WSJ, 27 Jan. 2023
• Smothers, who lived in the unit block of Osborne Road, was pronounced dead at the scene.
  — David Anderson, The Aegis, 25 Aug. 2017
• They have been brainwashed to think that leaves smother lawns.
  — Jeff Lowenfels, Anchorage Daily News, 1 Oct. 2020
• Sauté slices with duck breast; add to a pork roast or smother apples and sauerkraut with some game sausages.
  — Kim Sunée, Anchorage Daily News, 1 Oct. 2020
• At Dichos, the tortillas were fresh and didn't appear to be dipped, but rather topped with a smother of bean sauce.
  — Emma Balter, Chron, 12 Aug. 2022
• Or serve it atop a freshly baked potato and smother with toppings like sour cream and jalapenos.
  — Audrey Bruno, SELF, 21 Nov. 2022
• The 40-minute mindset, the smother-ous defense, the varied scoring options.
  — Paul Daugherty, Cincinnati.com, 16 Mar. 2018
• Will years of oak leaves accumulating on the soil smother Asian jasmine and keep its roots from grabbing the ground?
  — Neil Sperry, San Antonio Express-News, 26 Mar. 2021
• His size and strength help impede the early stages of a route and smother possession throws underneath.
  — Scott Horner, The Indianapolis Star, 19 Apr. 2023
• The Ave Maria, the gospel choir, the smell of chrysanthemums in a church, the shiva basket, the repast, the wake, the stories, songs, tears and the hugs that smother kids in Auntie’s organza dress and magnolia perfume.
  — Washington Post, 24 Sep. 2020
• All of these items promised to ward off, murder, smother or otherwise expunge my pest problem.
  — Jessica Roy, Los Angeles Times, 14 July 2021
• The invasive species smothers native plants and serves as tinder for wildfires in a state already ravaged by blazes.
  — Julie Watson, The Christian Science Monitor, 16 June 2023
• Feel free to add more cabbage to smother in the gravy; the recipe will accommodate as much as double without increasing the amount of tomato.
  — Jim Webster, Washington Post, 19 Mar. 2023
• Algae clump on the surface in smelly mats, smother native aquatic vegetation with slime or grow along the bottom in hairy, green strands.
  — Cynthia Barnett, Discover Magazine, 25 Feb. 2015
• The brew of exotics has unleashed noxious algae outbreaks that smother beaches in foot-deep goo that looks like creamed spinach and smells like the bowels of a porta potty.
  — jsonline.com, 30 Aug. 2021
• Mazda's all-wheel-drive system is quick to smother wheelspin, but a hard launch can elicit a tortured bark from the front tires before the system diverts torque rearward.
  — Ezra Dyer, Car and Driver, 20 Nov. 2020
• So all Mack did was use his comic book power and explosion to blow past Fulton and smother quarterback Deshaun Watson in the end zone.
  — Dan Wiederer, chicagotribune.com, 13 Dec. 2020
• Big Red's has nine hot sauces and two smother sauces — blackberry rum and AZ Jerk, which are a pretty rad upgrade to typical barbecue sauces.
  — Felicia Campbell, The Arizona Republic, 1 July 2022
• Scientists say the technique could help officials trace and smother outbreaks, and could shed light on the origins of the nation’s most high-profile coronavirus cluster: the outbreak at the White House.
  — Anchorage Daily News, 14 Oct. 2020
• Neither of these selections are for those who shy away from spice, however, the intense heat managed to highlight, rather than smother, the pork and the shrimp – an impressive feat, given the level of heat.
  — Dahlia Ghabour, The Courier-Journal, 7 Aug. 2021
• Spain then had Simon to thank for keeping them in the game, with the goalkeeper coming out quickly to smother substitute Domenico Berardi's effort.
  — Matias Grez, CNN, 6 July 2021
• Pittsburgh’s smother-ous, Big Brother-ous encore crushing of Cincinnati Sunday was a speed bump in the supermarket parking lot.
  — Paul Daugherty, The Enquirer, 16 Nov. 2020
• This allows the control-arm suspensions to smother potholes, leaving the ride uncannily smooth.
  — Ezra Dyer, Car and Driver, 24 Nov. 2020
• They have also been identified in firefighting foams that are designed to quickly smother liquid fuel fires.
  — Alexa Gagosz, BostonGlobe.com, 25 May 2023
• That raises risks that oil and other pollutants will leak into the ocean and travel to shore and smother wetlands, particularly sensitive salt marshes along the northern Gulf Coast.
  — Hiroko Tabuchi, New York Times, 8 May 2023
• Excessive moisture smothers and kills roots, leading to discolored and dying foliage.
  — Debbie Arrington, sacbee, 20 Oct. 2017
• And Beverly's going to be that overbearing smother turned into an overbearing grandsmother.
  — Gerrad Hall, EW.com, 30 Aug. 2022
• When wildfire smoke smothers US cities and communities, suddenly creating a hazardous air quality event, workers like Leichenger say they’re left gasping for help to keep doing their jobs.
  — Alicia Wallace, CNN, 10 June 2023
• Several players stepped forward to smother Sacramento on Sunday.
  — Ron Kroichick, San Francisco Chronicle, 30 Apr. 2023

Last Updated: 5 Sep 2024