Meaning of silence In English

• 0 a period without any sound; complete quiet:

  • A loud crash of thunder broke the silence of the night.

  • Silence reigned (= there was complete silence) in the church.

• 1 a state of not speaking or writing or making a noise:

  • The soldiers listened in silence as their captain gave the orders.

  • "Silence! (= Stop talking!)" shouted the teacher.

  • My request for help was met with silence (= I received no answer).

  • Their mother's angry words reduced the children to silence.

  • Their conversation was punctuated by uncomfortable silences.

  • My request for help was met with silence (= I received no answer).

  • Her silence about/on what had happened to her surprised everyone.

  • I don't expect to hear from her now, after three years' silence (= three years in which she has not spoken or written to me).

• 2 to make someone or something be quiet:

  • The teacher raised his voice to silence the class (= to make them stop talking).

  • Her remark about his appearance completely silenced him (= made him unable to answer).

  • figurative The enemy's guns were silenced (= made to stop firing) in a surprise attack.

  • Big companies file lawsuits to silence their critics.

  • The more they try to silence us, the more we will speak out.

  • Al Capone silenced his opponents by killing them.

• 3 an absence of sound; complete quiet:

  • A profound silence spread itself through the sleeping house.

• 4 a state of not speaking or making noise:

  • [ U ] The two men ate in silence and listened to traffic swishing past on the highway.

  • [ C ] Her question was followed by a long silence (= a long period of time in which no one spoke).

• 5 to stop someone from speaking or from criticizing:

  • Successful action could silence the administration’s critics.