verb (used with object)
- to put out (a fire, light, etc.); put out the flame of (something burning or lighted): to extinguish a candle.
- to put an end to or bring to an end; wipe out of existence; annihilate: to extinguish hope.
- to obscure or eclipse, as by superior brilliance.
- Law. to discharge (a debt), as by payment.
verb (tr)
- to put out or quench (a light, flames, etc)
- to remove or destroy entirely; annihilate
- archaic to eclipse or obscure by or as if by superior brilliance
- law to discharge (a debt)
v.c.1500 (implied in extinguishable), from Latin extinguere/exstinguere “quench, wipe out, obliterate,” from ex- “out” (see ex-) + stinguere “quench,” from PIE *steig- “to prick, stick, pierce.” Related: Extinguished; extinguishing. n.
- To bring about the extinction of a conditioned response.