- silence
- {{Roman}}I.{{/Roman}} noun1 quietnessADJECTIVE▪ lengthy, long, prolonged▪ brief, momentary, a moment's, short▪
There was a moment's silence before she replied.
▪ deep, hushed▪ awed▪We sat and watched in awed silence as she performed.
▪ absolute, complete, dead, deadly, deathly, total, utter▪We sat in complete silence, save for the ticking of the clock.
▪A deathly silence hung over the town.
▪ relative▪The rest of the trip passed in relative silence.
▪ shocked, stunned▪Her comments were met with a stunned silence.
▪ awkward, embarrassed, embarrassing, strained, uncomfortable, uneasy▪An awkward silence followed.
▪ heavy, ominous, oppressive, tense▪ brooding, thoughtful▪She fell into long, brooding silences.
▪ stony, sullen▪ eerie, unnerving▪ companionable▪They walked in companionable silence.
▪ expectant, pregnant▪ sudden▪ radio▪The soldier had broken radio silence to contact his aircraft.
… OF SILENCE▪ momentVERB + SILENCE▪ maintain▪She maintained a stony silence.
▪ break, interrupt, penetrate, pierce, punctuate, shatter▪Lewis finally broke the long silence between them.
▪Celeste's voice penetrated the silence.
▪a silence punctuated only by the occasional sniff from the children
▪ lapse into, relapse into, retreat into, subside into, trail off into (all used only about people)▪He lapsed into a sullen silence.
▪ stun sb into▪The boys were stunned into silence by this news.
▪ be met with▪Her question was met with an uneasy silence.
▪ observe (= as a sign of respect for the dead, etc.)▪A minute's silence for the victims will be observed.
▪ fill▪She filled the silence with music.
SILENCE + VERB▪ come over sth, descend, fall, fall over sth, settle, settle over sth▪A sudden silence fell over the room.
▪ hang, prevail, reign▪Silence reigned.
▪ linger▪A heavy silence lingered in the air.
▪ envelop sth, fill sth▪Silence filled the room.
▪ ensue, follow▪ deepen, grow, lengthen, spread, stretch▪He thought for a moment, the silence lengthening.
▪ greet sth▪A stunned silence greeted her announcement.
PREPOSITION▪ in (the) silence▪They ate their breakfast in silence.
PHRASES▪ two minutes' silence, three minutes' silence (esp. BrE)▪They observed two minutes' silence to remember the war dead.
▪Countries throughout Europe held a three minutes' silence.
2 not saying anything about sthADJECTIVE▪ deafening▪The government's only response has been a deafening silence.
▪ dignified (esp. BrE)▪ deliberateVERB + SILENCE▪ keep, maintain▪He has so far kept a dignified silence on the subject.
▪ take as▪I took her silence as a no.
SILENCE + VERB▪ surround▪a debate to break the silence surrounding domestic violence
PREPOSITION▪ silence from▪There seems to have been a deliberate silence from the newspapers.
PHRASES▪ a conspiracy of silence, a wall of silence▪There is a conspiracy of silence about what is happening (= nobody is willing to talk about it).
▪ a vow of silence▪{{Roman}}II.{{/Roman}}She has broken her vow of silence on the issue.
verbADVERB▪ completely▪ effectively▪Criticism has now been effectively silenced.
▪ immediately, quickly▪ abruptly, instantly▪Her scream was abruptly silenced.
▪ momentarily, temporarily▪ forever▪A shot to the head silenced him forever.
VERB + SILENCE▪ try to▪ manage to▪ fail to▪Even these improvements to the service failed to silence a grumbling chorus of complaints.
PREPOSITION▪ with▪She silenced him with a glare.
Collocations dictionary. 2013.
