1 [U] no noise or sound at all 寂静;肃静:
There must be silence during examinations.考试时必须保持肃静。
2 [C,U] a period when nobody speaks or makes a noise 一段时间的沉默或寂静:
My question was met with an awkward silence.我的提问换来一阵沉默,真令人尴尬。We ate in silence.我们一声不吭地吃着。
3 [U] not making any comments about sth 沉默;保持缄默
silenceverb [T]
silence1/ˋsaIləns; ˈsaIləns/n 1 [C,U] when there is no sound or nobody is talking 寂静﹔沉默: complete/total/dead silence There was a loud bang, then complete silence. 一声巨响﹐然后是一片寂静。in silence The two men sat in silence. 这两个男人默不作声地坐着。+of the silence of the night 夜的寂静2 [U] when someone refuses to talk about something 缄默﹐闭口不谈: +on So far, he has maintained his silence on the subject. 至今﹐他仍在这个问题上保持沉默。
silence2v [T] 1 to make someone stop criticizing or giving their opinions 使停止批评[发表意见]﹐压制…的言论: Critics of the system were quickly silenced. 现存体制的批评者很快就被封了嘴。2 to stop someone from talking, or to stop something from making a noise 使沉默﹐使安静
silencesilencesilencessilencedsilencingnoun1(no plural) a situation in which there is no sound: I can only work in complete silence.2(pluralsilences) a time when nobody speaks or makes a noise: There was a long silence before she answered the question. We ate our dinner in silence.