Princeton's WordNet(3.50 / 2 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.

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.

3. silence(Noun)

   The action of refraining from speaking.

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

4. silence(Verb)

   To make something silent.

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

5. silence(Verb)

   To suppress criticism etc.

6. silence(Verb)

   To block gene expression.

7. silence(Interjection)

   be quiet

Origin: 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

2. Silence(noun)

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

3. Silence(noun)

   secrecy; as, these things were transacted in silence

4. Silence(noun)

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

5. Silence(noun)

   absence of mention; oblivion

6. Silence

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

7. Silence(verb)

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

8. Silence(verb)

   to put to rest; to quiet

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

10. Silence(verb)

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

Origin: [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.

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

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. William Shakespeare:

   The rest is silence.

2. Horace:

   With silence favor me.

3. Ashraf Ghani:

   Silence is not acceptable.

4. Maurice Hurley:

   Silence your dog, captain!

5. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani:

   Silence is not acceptable,'.

Images & Illustrations of silence

Popularity rank by frequency of use