silence

silence

I

si‧lence¹ W2 /ˈsaɪləns/ noun1.  NO NOISE  [uncountable] complete absence of sound or noise
   SYN  quiet
    silence of
    Nothing disturbed the silence of the night.
    silence falls/descends (on/upon something)
    After the explosion, an eerie silence fell upon the scene.
    break/shatter the silence
    A loud scream shattered the silence.
2.  NO TALKING  [uncountable and countable] complete quiet because nobody is talking:
    There was a brief silence before anyone answered.
    in silence
    The four men sat in silence.
    complete/total/dead silence
    ‘How long have you been here?’ I asked. There was complete silence.
    ‘Silence in court!’ roared the judge.
    embarrassed/awkward/stunned etc silence
    There was an awkward silence between them.
    The accused exercised his right to silence (=the legal right to choose to say nothing).
3.  NO DISCUSSION/ANSWER  [uncountable] failure or refusal to discuss something or answer questions about something
    silence on
    The government’s silence on such an important issue seems very strange.
    Once again the answer was a deafening silence (=a very noticeable refusal to discuss something).
4.  NO COMMUNICATION  [uncountable] failure to write a letter to someone, telephone them etc:
    After two years of silence, he suddenly got in touch with us again.
5. one-minute/two-minute etc silence a period of time in which everyone stops talking as a sign of honour and respect towards someone who has died
     

COLLOCATIONS

(for Meanings 1 & 2)

■ adjectives
   ▪ complete/total/absolute/utter silence They sat in complete silence. | The silence in the room was absolute.
   ▪ dead silence (=complete silence) There was a gasp from Peter and then a dead silence.
   ▪ a long silence ‘He’s dead.’ There was a long silence.
   ▪ a short/brief silence After a brief silence, Katherine nodded.
   ▪ an awkward/uncomfortable/embarrassed silence ‘Fred tells me you like books,’ Steve said, after an awkward silence.
   ▪ a stunned/shocked silence There was a stunned silence at the other end of the phone.
   ▪ stony silence (=unfriendly silence) Harrison stared at him in stony silence.
   ▪ a tense silence There was a brief, tense silence.
   ▪ an eerie silence (=one that is strange and rather frightening) An eerie silence descended over the house.
   ▪ an ominous silence (=one that makes you feel that something bad is going to happen) ‘How long will she be ill?’ There was a short, ominous silence.
   ▪ a sudden silence At the mention of John, a sudden silence fell on the room.
■ verbs
   ▪ there is (a) silence There was silence in the library for several moments.
   ▪ break/shatter the silence (=end the silence) The sound of a car engine broke the silence.
   ▪ disturb the silence (=end the silence by making a sound) Nothing moved, no sound disturbed the silence.
   ▪ silence falls/descends (=a silence begins) A sudden silence fell over the room.
   ▪ lapse into silence (=to stop talking and be quiet) 'I don't want any,' he said, and lapsed into silence again.

II

silence² verb [transitive]1. to make someone stop talking, or stop something making a noise:
    She held up her hand to silence the children.
2. to make someone stop expressing opposition or criticisms – used especially in news reports:
    attempts to silence the rumours
    Barnes has failed to silence his critics.