silences

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of silence.

   The composer used carefully timed silences to heighten the tension.

   Her letters were marked by long silences that lasted for months.

   Note

   A plural that exists because the singular usually names a condition rather than something you can count. Silences are separate stretches that can be told apart: pauses in a piece of music, gaps in a correspondence, moments when someone holds back from speaking. For general quiet, keep the singular (silence fell over the hall). The same spelling is also the present-tense verb, as in she silences him.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of silence.

   The new policy silences anyone who tries to question the leadership.

   A single raised hand silences the murmuring crowd instantly.

   Note

   A verb that wants an object: it silences a crowd, a critic, a dissenting voice. The same form covers the biologist's use, where something silences a gene by blocking its expression. It also has a euphemistic use in which to silence someone is to kill them. In a crime story, then, he silences the witness may mean more than a threat, so watch the context.

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