SMOULDER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does smoulder mean? 

• SMOULDER (noun)
  The noun SMOULDER has 1 sense:

1. a fire that burns with thick smoke but no flame

  Familiarity information: SMOULDER used as a noun is very rare.

• SMOULDER (verb)
  The verb SMOULDER has 2 senses:

1. have strong suppressed feelings

2. burn slowly and without a flame

  Familiarity information: SMOULDER used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SMOULDER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A fire that burns with thick smoke but no flame

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

smolder; smoulder

Context example:

the smoulder suddenly became a blaze

Hypernyms ("smoulder" is a kind of...):

fire (the event of something burning (often destructive))

Derivation:

smoulder (burn slowly and without a flame)

• SMOULDER (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they smoulder    ... he / she / it smoulders   
Past simple: smouldered   
Past participle: smouldered   
-ing form: smouldering   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Have strong suppressed feelings

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Synonyms:

smolder; smoulder

Hypernyms (to "smoulder" is one way to...):

experience; feel (undergo an emotional sensation or be in a particular state of mind)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sense 2

Meaning:

Burn slowly and without a flame

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

smolder; smoulder

Context example:

a smoldering fire

Hypernyms (to "smoulder" is one way to...):

burn; combust (undergo combustion)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

smoulder (a fire that burns with thick smoke but no flame)

 Context examples 

From below the two glowing ends of their cigars might have been the smouldering eyes of some malignant fiend looking down in the darkness.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Dry and worm-eaten, a spark upon them became a smoulder, and a smoulder a blaze.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The latter was blinking in the bright light of the corridor, and peering at us and at the smouldering fire.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

His eyes still smouldered, but his features regained their prim composure in an instant.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

When he had gathered a heap he built a fire,—a smouldering, smudgy fire,—and put a tin pot of water on to boil.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

Flinging his brands at the nearest of his enemies, the man thrust his smouldering mittens into the snow and stamped about to cool his feet.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

An explosion of a smouldering volcano long suppressed, was the result of an internal contest more easily conceived than described.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

But his anger still smouldered, and he kept muttering, "The beasts! The beasts!"

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

It was red and hot, and now and again it was a little darkened—as it were, the embers of a bonfire smouldering.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

My last glance showed me the unconscious Summerlee, most futile of sentinels, still nodding away like a queer mechanical toy in front of the smouldering fire.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)