silenced

1. 1
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of silence.

   The new policy silenced critics inside the organization.

   Protesters were silenced before they could reach the steps of the capitol.

   Note

   One spelling does two jobs. It is the plain past (the policy silenced critics), and after have or be it is the participle of perfect and passive clauses (critics were silenced). Every meaning of the verb travels with it. A geneticist's silenced gene has had its expression blocked, while in a crime story someone silenced may have been murdered, a euphemism worth reading for.

2. 2
   adjective

   Made silent, or prevented from speaking or producing any sound, often by force or authority.

   The silenced dissidents had no way to make their views public.

   A silenced witness cannot help the court reach the truth.

   Similarmuzzled, gagged, muted

   Note

   The participle at rest names a state rather than an act, and it most often stands before a noun: silenced dissidents, a silenced witness. When a by-phrase names who did the silencing, read it as the verb form instead. As an adjective it also accepts degree, so more silenced and most silenced are possible for voices only partly shut out.

3. 3
   adjective

   Fitted with a silencer, a device that reduces the noise produced when a firearm is fired.

   Like a car's muffler, which quiets the engine's roar.

   The silenced rifle let the hunter shoot without startling nearby game.

   Police recovered a silenced handgun from the scene of the robbery.

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