stiffle

Verb

stifle (third-person singular simple present stifles, present participle stifling, simple past and past participle stifled)

1. (also, figuratively, transitive) To make (an animal or person) unconscious or cause (an animal or person) to die by preventing breathing; to smother, to suffocate.
   • I took my leave, being half stifled with the closeness of the room.1708, Jonathan Swift, Accomplishment of the First Prediction

   Synonyms:

   asphyxiate, burke, scomfish, strangle, suffocate

2. (excessive, transitive) To cause (someone) difficulty in breathing, or a choking or gagging feeling.
   • The heat was stifling the children.

   Synonyms:

   choke, gag, strangle, throttle

3. (also, figuratively, transitive) To prevent (a breath, cough, or cry, or the voice, etc.) from being released from the throat.
4. (transitive) To make (something) unable to be heard by blocking it with some medium.

   Synonyms:

   gag, muffle, bequiet, bestill, damp, dampen, dull, hush, hush down, hush up

5. (figuratively, transitive) To keep in, hold back, or repress (something).
   • The army stifled the rebellion.

   Synonyms:

   hinder, restrain, smother, suppress, throttle, impede, behedge, guard, govern, bind

6. (figuratively, transitive) To prevent (something) from being revealed; to conceal, to hide, to suppress.
   • Atticus tried to stifle a smile but didn’t make it.1960 July 11, Harper Lee, chapter 15, in To Kill a Mockingbird, Philadelphia, Pa.; New York, N.Y.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, →OCLC

   Synonyms:

   cover up, hide away, occult, secrete, veil

See all 13 meanings of stifle