extinguish 的核心含义是“使熄灭、扑灭”，可用于具体的火焰、灯光，也可抽象表示“使希望、情感等不复存在”或“偿清债务”。其读音为英 /ɪkˈstɪŋɡwɪʃ/，美 /ɪkˈstɪŋɡwɪʃ/，动词词性，第三人称单数为 extinguishes，过去式和过去分词均为 extinguished，现在分词为 extinguishing [3][5]。

短语搭配

具体场景：extinguish a cigarette（熄灭香烟）、extinguish fire（灭火）、arc extinguish chamber（灭弧室，电学专业术语）[2][5]

抽象场景：extinguish hopes（使希望破灭）、extinguish memory（抹去记忆）、extinguish debt（偿清债务）[6][10]

例句

消防员花了约50分钟才扑灭那场大火。It took about 50 minutes to extinguish the fire. [10]

吸烟区禁止吸烟，请熄灭您的香烟。Smoking is forbidden. Please extinguish your cigarettes. [4]

这条消息彻底破灭了她对理查德归来的希望。The message extinguished her hopes of Richard's return. [6]

独裁者试图一次性消灭所有反对者。The dictator wanted to extinguish all of his opposition in one go. [12]

没有什么能动摇他对人性的信念。Nothing could extinguish his faith in human nature. [12]

除了大火本身，灭火所用的水也对巴黎圣母院造成了严重损坏。Apart from the fire, the water used to extinguish it also caused a lot of damage to Notre Dame Cathedral.

他的成就使同事的努力黯然失色。His discovery extinguished the achievements of his colleague.

请在“禁止吸烟”指示灯亮起时熄灭香烟。Please extinguish your cigarette when the "no smoking" sign lights up.

我们必须抹去对那次失败的记忆。We have to extinguish the memory of the defeat. [4]

无论多少代人之后，都不会有人再见到我们灭绝的这个物种。However many generations succeed us, none will ever see this species that we extinguish.

用法拓展

近义词辨析：

extinguish：强调彻底熄灭或消除，可用于具体火焰或抽象情感，如 extinguish a flame/hope [12]。

quench：侧重“止渴、灭火”，如 quench thirst/fire（较正式）。

put out：口语化表达“扑灭”，如 put out a fire（日常用语）。

反义词：ignite（点燃）、light（点亮）[5]。

无论是描述物理灭火，还是表达抽象的“希望破灭”，extinguish 都体现了“彻底终止存在”的核心逻辑，是正式书面语中的常用词。