Definition of "extinguish" []

• To put out (a fire, for example); quench. (verb-transitive)
• To put an end to (hopes, for example); destroy. See Synonyms at abolish. (verb-transitive)
• To obscure; eclipse. (verb-transitive)
• Law To settle or discharge (a debt). (verb-transitive)
• Law To nullify: extinguished their title to the property. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Does not a little word extinguish all pleasures of that sort?"
• "He now tries to woo Lib Dem voters and MPs, not "extinguish" them."
• "By taking Reid's comments about President Obama out of context, we do ourselves an injustice -- the same injustice we do when we want to "extinguish" racist comments."