Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

silence

1 noun
     
si‧lence1 W2
1

no noise

[uncountable] complete absence of sound or noise [= 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

MX a period of time in which everyone stops talking as a sign of honour and respect towards someone who has died
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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