snuff out
To put out a candle or small fire, or to stop something (like a life or a hope) suddenly and completely.
Meanings
To extinguish a candle or small flame by pinching or smothering it.
"She snuffed out the last candle and the room fell into complete darkness."
To end a life suddenly and prematurely.
"The accident snuffed out the lives of three young people who had everything ahead of them."
"And thus the whirligig of time brings in his revenges — yet a young life snuffed out."
To suddenly and completely end a movement, idea, hope, or career.
"The military coup snuffed out any hope of democratic reform within days."
"In an instant, all that promise was snuffed out."
— Barack Obama, eulogy for the victims of the Charleston church shooting, June 2015
The literal sense (extinguishing a candle by pinching or smothering) is less common now since fewer people use candles regularly. The figurative sense — ending a life, movement, hope, or career — is very common and often used in dramatic or journalistic writing.
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Synonyms
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