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What is "quieten"

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
quieten
verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
down
▪ I decided to stay where I was at the moment until things quietened down.
▪ About 4 am things quietened down, and we went home to get a spot of sleep.
▪ After I'd quietened down they left me alone.
▪ After Mosse died, things seemed to have quietened down.
▪ Of course, it quietens down later.
▪ David has mellowed and quietened down a great deal.
▪ It was strange but, since they'd started talking about getting rid of Donald, the baby had quietened down.
▪ He decided it was better to leave the library until the place had quietened down.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Cardiff quietened Jimmy with a gesture that meant: Let him talk.
▪ Her travelling companions had quietened, as if some one in authority had arrived.
▪ I decided to stay where I was at the moment until things quietened down.
▪ In an attempt to quieten things down, executive producer George Harrison arranged for a press conference in London.
▪ Invent some reason to quieten old Nosy Salt.
▪ It didn't knock her unconscious, but at least it quietened her enough to let me get at Jules.
▪ The driver tried to quieten the horses as two screeching cats, fighting over some vermin, scurried out of the shadows.
▪ When one conceals matters, one does not necessarily quieten them.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
quieten

1828, "to make quiet;" 1890, "to become quiet," from quiet (adj.) + -en (1).

Wiktionary
quieten

vb. 1 (context transitive English) To make quiet. 2 (context intransitive English) To become quiet.

Related phrases:
WordNet
quieten

  1. v. become quiet or quieter; "The audience fell silent when the speaker entered" [syn: hush, quiet, quiesce, quiet down, pipe down] [ant: louden]

  2. make calm or still; "quiet the dragons of worry and fear" [syn: calm, calm down, quiet, tranquilize, tranquillize, tranquillise, lull, still] [ant: agitate]

  3. cause to be quiet or not talk; "Please silence the children in the church!" [syn: hush, silence, still, shut up, hush up] [ant: louden]

Usage examples of "quieten".

House began to buzz, thinking Merula was finished, but quietened when he began to speak again.

Less easy was the quietening of the concerns of the majority, not least because they were his own also.

His voice was frail, almost quavery, yet it filled the small church, quietening the crowd more successfully than any threats from the guards.

A pause as it probed round with immature senses, its giddy thoughts quietening down.

By which time it was middle to late afternoon, the light came slanting through the trees, and the forest was slowly quietening down .

The atmosphere was so highly charged emotionally that the image of the voyage had assumed epic proportions before it had even begun, and Brevis signalled to Porter to close the hatches early to quieten the tension.

The naique was talking ten to the dozen, but Sharpe quietened him with a wave.

Quickly she quietened the dogs then gave them the command that would set them hunting again, though this time silently.

Instantly the onlookers quietened, but the two combatants continued their fisticuffs.

That fear kept the thoughts in check and quietened the urgent demands of her body.

His voice quietened her, so that she did as she was told with a slow clumsiness.

The boy quietened presently and quite soon worn out with fright, dropped off to sleep.

The moment the dusky brown mouse disappeared, the pack animal quietened, carrying on grazing as though nothing had happened.

He became so enraged that Ryan had quietened him, reminding him that they were supposed to be brothers, trading in bullets.

When they had quietened down, he got out two silver ingots each weighing five taels from his litde store of treasure and handed mem to the serving-man.