Trim rather than extinguishSourced
An old snuffer could maintain a burning wick
Before the mid-nineteenth century, snuffer could mean a scissors-like tool for trimming a candle’s wick without putting out the flame. A small attached receptacle caught the trimmed material. The name did not always describe the cone-shaped extinguisher familiar today.
The candle could need attention while its light continued.
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Candle snuffer · Wikimedia contributors
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Reviewed: 2026-10-05