silence

SILENCE

In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength. --Isaiah 15

And, as if satisfied, he was silent. --Dante Alighieri (Purgatorio, Canto XXIV)

Not heard. 1. Nonverbally, the condition or quality of being difficult or impossible to hear, as in walking stealthily, swallowing a cry, curtailing bodily noises, and refraining from speech. 2. Synonyms include secretive (see DECEPTION CUE), reserved (see SUBMISSION), and tightlipped (which, in English, implies a conscious decision to withhold information).

Usage: Animals from reptiles to human beings have devised ingenious means to be silent in order to avoid detection.

Media. Dead air: "An unintended interruption in a broadcast during which there is no sound" (Soukhanov 1992:478).

Pregnant pause. While giving a brief report at a conference table, important speaking points may be dramatized by inserting a brief pause immediately after their delivery. In a lengthier report, pauses may be used to separate main sections of the presentation; listeners feel refreshed by silence and pay renewed attention to vocalizations delivered after a pause (see ORIENTING REFLEX).

RESEARCH REPORT: "Silences also function to mark episode and position boundaries [in conversations, e.g., when closing a topic]" (Burgoon et al. 1989:409).