Definitions for silence
ˈsaɪ lənssi·lence

Princeton's WordNet(4.00 / 3 votes)Rate this definition:

1. silence(noun)

   the state of being silent (as when no one is speaking)

   "there was a shocked silence"; "he gestured for silence"

2. silence, quiet(noun)

   the absence of sound

   "he needed silence in order to sleep"; "the street was quiet"

3. muteness, silence(noun)

   a refusal to speak when expected

   "his silence about my contribution was surprising"

4. secrecy, secretiveness, silence(verb)

   the trait of keeping things secret

5. hush, quieten, silence, still, shut up, hush up(verb)

   cause to be quiet or not talk

   "Please silence the children in the church!"

6. silence(verb)

   keep from expression, for example by threats or pressure

   "All dissenters were silenced when the dictator assumed power"

Wiktionary(4.00 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. silence(Noun)

   The lack of any sound.

   When the motor stopped, the silence was almost deafening.

   Etymology: From silence.

2. silence(Noun)

   Form of meditative worship practiced by the Society of Friends (Quakers); meeting for worship.

   During silence a message came to me that there was that of God in every person.

   Etymology: From silence.

3. silence(Noun)

   The action of refraining from speaking.

   "You have the right to silence," said the police officer.

   Etymology: From silence.

4. silence(Verb)

   To make something silent.

   Can you silence the crowd, so we can start the show?

   Etymology: From silence.

5. silence(Verb)

   To suppress criticism etc.

   Etymology: From silence.

6. silence(Verb)

   To block gene expression.

   Etymology: From silence.

7. silence(Interjection)

   be quiet

   Etymology: From silence.

Webster Dictionary(3.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Silence(noun)

   the state of being silent; entire absence of sound or noise; absolute stillness

   Etymology: [F., fr. L. silentium. See Silent.]

2. Silence(noun)

   forbearance from, or absence of, speech; taciturnity; muteness

   Etymology: [F., fr. L. silentium. See Silent.]

3. Silence(noun)

   secrecy; as, these things were transacted in silence

   Etymology: [F., fr. L. silentium. See Silent.]

4. Silence(noun)

   the cessation of rage, agitation, or tumilt; calmness; quiest; as, the elements were reduced to silence

   Etymology: [F., fr. L. silentium. See Silent.]

5. Silence(noun)

   absence of mention; oblivion

   Etymology: [F., fr. L. silentium. See Silent.]

6. Silence

   be silent; -- used elliptically for let there be silence, or keep silence

   Etymology: [F., fr. L. silentium. See Silent.]

7. Silence(verb)

   to compel to silence; to cause to be still; to still; to hush

   Etymology: [F., fr. L. silentium. See Silent.]

8. Silence(verb)

   to put to rest; to quiet

   Etymology: [F., fr. L. silentium. See Silent.]

9. Silence(verb)

   to restrain from the exercise of any function, privilege of instruction, or the like, especially from the act of preaching; as, to silence a minister of the gospel

   Etymology: [F., fr. L. silentium. See Silent.]

10. Silence(verb)

    to cause to cease firing, as by a vigorous cannonade; as, to silence the batteries of an enemy

    Etymology: [F., fr. L. silentium. See Silent.]

Freebase(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Silence

   Silence is the lack of audible sound or presence of sounds of very low intensity. By analogy, the word silence can also refer to any absence of communication, including in media other than speech. Silence is also used as total communication, in reference to non verbal communication and spiritual connection. Silence also refers to no sounds uttered by anybody in a room or area. Silence is an important factor in many cultural spectacles, as in rituals. In discourse analysis, speakers use brief absences of speech to mark the boundaries of prosodic units. Silence in speech can be hesitation, stutters, self-correction—or deliberate slowing of speech to clarify or aid processing of ideas. These are short silences. Longer pauses in language occur in interactive roles, reactive tokens, or turn-taking. According to cultural norms, silence can be positive or negative. For example, in a Christian Methodist faith organization silence and reflection during the sermons might be appreciated by the congregation, while in a Southern Baptist church, silence might mean disagreement with what is being said, or perhaps disconnectedness from the congregated community.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Silence

   sī′lens, n. state of being silent: absence of sound or speech: muteness: cessation of agitation: calmness: oblivion.—v.t. to cause to be silent: to put to rest: to stop.—interj. be silent!—adj. Sī′lent, free from noise: not speaking: habitually taciturn: still: not pronounced: of distilled spirit, without flavour or odour.—n. Silen′tiary, one who keeps order in an assembly.—adv. Sī′lently.—n. Sī′lentness=Silence. [L. silēre, to be silent.]

The Roycroft Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. silence

   A trick of the human gullet that conceals weakness or emptiness.

Military Dictionary and Gazetteer(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. silence

   To cause to cease firing by a vigorous cannonade; as, to silence the batteries of an enemy.

Suggested Resources(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. silence

   Song lyrics by silence -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by silence on the Lyrics.com website.

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'silence' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #1783

2. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'silence' in Nouns Frequency: #812

Anagrams for silence »

1. license, selenic

2. Selenic

How to pronounce silence?

1. 

   Alex

   US English

   

   Daniel

   British

   

   Karen

   Australian

   

   Veena

   Indian

How to say silence in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of silence in Chaldean Numerology is: 7

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of silence in Pythagorean Numerology is: 4

Examples of silence in a Sentence

1. Joel Salinas:

   It’s almost like all of the physical sensations that I’ve been mirroring just kind of go away, like having been in a room where there’s an air conditioner running in the background and then it just stops. And there’s this eerie silence.

2. Mehmet Murat ildan:

   Stupid man produces noise; clever man produces silence!

3. Matt Denton and Joshua Lee:

   There was shocked silence on the set, bB-8's head was totally smashed up... It was as if someone had been hurt. The crew didn't know where to look.

4. Prophet Mohammed, Bukhari:

   It is better to sit alone than in company with the bad; and it is, better still to sit with the good than alone. It is better to speak to a seeker of knowledge than to remain silent; but silence is better than idle words.

5. Steven Crowder:

   This is why political correctness, or Cultural Marxism,... lends itself so fashionably to easy labels. Transphobic, homophobic, xenophobic, racist, bigoted, Uncle Tom, white privilege, mainsplaining. All of these are slapped on people with politically incorrect opinions in an attempt to silence you. ... Hate speech is inextricably tied to political correctness, or Cultural Marxism, and that creates intellectual conformity -- or intellectual authoritarianism. And that’s where you start to see things like “safe spaces” or “trigger warnings” or speakers banned from campus, or people with unpopular opinions banned from social media.

Images & Illustrations of silence

Popularity rank by frequency of use