smother

1. (transitive) To suffocate; stifle; obstruct, more or less completely, the respiration of something or someone.Examples: "He smothered her by pressing his hand over her mouth."; "But I am Pestilence;—hither and thither I flit about, that I may slay and smother;— All lips which I have kissed must surely wither, But Death’s—if thou art he, we’ll go to work together!"; "[…] he dashes to his destination at such a speed that when he stops the horse half smothers him in a cloud of steam. "Unbear him half a moment to freshen him up, and I'll be back.""transitive

2. (transitive) To extinguish or deaden, as fire, by covering, overlaying, or otherwise excluding the air.Examples: "to smother a fire with ashes"transitive

3. (transitive) To reduce to a low degree of vigor or activity; suppress or do away with; extinguishExamples: "The committee's report was smothered."Synonyms: stifle, cover up, conceal, hidetransitive

4. (transitive, cooking) To cook in a close dish.Examples: "beefsteak smothered with onions"transitive

5. (transitive) To daub or smear.Examples: "And I keep quite a lot of it around, especially chocolate-covered almonds and Trader Joes minipretzels smothered in dark chocolate."transitive

6. (intransitive) To be suffocated.Examples: "She is smothered by the rope."intransitive