silence
part of speech
noun (silence, silences); verb (silence, silences, silenced, silencing)
meaning for a pupil
1) Silence is when there is no sound at all. tree →
2) Silence is also when people are not talking. tree →
3) To silence means to make someone or something quiet. tree →
4) A minute's silence is a short time when people stay quiet to remember someone. tree →
sense in the lessons
In school, teachers ask for silence during tests and in the library. In ceremonies, like Remembrance Day (UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand) or a funeral, people keep a minute's silence. In stories, silence builds suspense or shows someone is upset. Phrases: in silence, break the silence, a minute's silence, silence please, an awkward silence.
examples
- Silence, please! The test has started. tree →
- We walked through the forest in silence. tree →
- A loud bang broke the silence. tree →
- There was a long silence after the bad news. tree →
- The class kept a minute's silence for the soldiers. tree →
- She silenced her phone in the cinema. tree →
- In the silence we could hear an owl. tree →
- His silence told me he was upset. tree →
- There was a splash, and then silence. tree →
note
Usually uncountable (some silence, a long silence is also fine). Adjective: silent; adverb: silently. «Quiet» means a little noise; silence means none. Silence is not the same as agreeing; you can say no.
In the corpora
- A rest is a written silence with a length you count, so the music keeps moving in your head while you stay quiet.
- He sits down beside the Water Rat, and the two rest in friendly silence.
- A thin, dry voice says «Be quiet at once, all of you!» — and there is silence.
- Bullies rely on silence, so telling a trusted adult is the way to stop it.
- Kind silence is not a lie; not every opinion needs to be said.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «silence» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.