silence

silence
{{Roman}}I.{{/Roman}}
noun
1 quietness
ADJECTIVE
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
moment
VERB + 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 sth
ADJECTIVE
deafening

The government's only response has been a deafening silence.

dignified (esp. BrE)
deliberate
VERB + 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

She has broken her vow of silence on the issue.

{{Roman}}II.{{/Roman}}
verb
ADVERB
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.

Silence is used with these nouns as the object: ↑critic, ↑criticism, ↑dissent, ↑gun, ↑rumour, ↑sceptic, ↑voice

Collocations dictionary. 2013.

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Synonyms:

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  • SILENCE — Il semble impossible de parler de ce qui est absence ou abolition de toute parole. Le silence se présente comme le point zéro à partir duquel s’inaugure tout langage, sans qu’on y puisse faire retour. Pour reprendre une terminologie empruntée à… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Silence — is a relative or total lack of audible sound you can not hear a thing it is quiet. Silence in Social Interaction: Functions, Meanings, and Interpretations Silence in social interaction is the absence of speech. Silence in this arena can be… …   Wikipedia

  • silence — SILENCE. s. m. Privation, cessation de bruit. Grand silence. profond silence. le silence de la nuit. le silence des bois. faites silence. faites faire silence. troubler le silence. Il se dit proprement de l homme lorsqu il s abstient de parler.… …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie française

  • Silence — • All writers on the spiritual life uniformly recommend, nay, command under penalty of total failure, the practice of silence Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. Silence     Silence …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Silence — Студийный альбом …   Википедия

  • silence — Silence, Silentium. Fort grand silence, Silentium acre et intentum. Il y eut quelque temps silence, Silentium aliquandiu tenuit. Faire silence, Attacere, Silentium dare, Conticere, Fauere linguis, Ore fauere. Se taire et faire silence par commun… …   Thresor de la langue françoyse

  • Silence — Si lence, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Silenced}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Silencing}.] 1. To compel to silence; to cause to be still; to still; to hush. [1913 Webster] Silence that dreadful bell; it frights the isle. Shak. [1913 Webster] 2. To put to rest; to… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Silence — Si lence, n. [F., fr. L. silentium. See {Silent}.] [1913 Webster] 1. The state of being silent; entire absence of sound or noise; absolute stillness. [1913 Webster] I saw and heared; for such a numerous host Fled not in silence through the… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Silence — Álbum de Sonata Arctica Publicación 4 de septiembre de 2001 Grabación Otoño, 2000 Primavera, 2001 Género(s) Pow …   Wikipedia Español

  • silence — si·lence n 1: the state of keeping or being silent; esp: forbearance from speech or comment 2: failure to make something known esp. in violation of a duty to do so acceptance by silence see also estoppel by silence at estoppel …   Law dictionary

  • Silence 4 — es una banda portuguesa formada en 1996, cuyas canciones son mayoritariamente en inglés. (Salvo los temas Sextos Sentidos y Eu nao sei dizer incluidos en su álbum debut Silence Becomes I ). Realizaron dos álbumes con buena recepción por los… …   Wikipedia Español

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