stifle

Meaning

Verb

1. (also, figuratively, transitive) To make (an animal or person) unconscious or cause (an animal or person) death by preventing breathing; to smother, to suffocate.
2. (excessive, transitive) To cause (someone) difficulty in breathing, or a choking or gagging feeling.
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.
5. (figuratively, transitive) To keep in, hold back, or repress (something).
6. (figuratively, transitive) To prevent (something) from being revealed; to conceal, to hide, to suppress.
7. (transitive) To treat (a silkworm cocoon) with steam as part of the process of silk production.
8. (intransitive) To die of suffocation.
9. (excessive, intransitive) To smother; to make breathing difficult.

Noun

An act or state of being stifled.

Noun

1. The joint between the femur and tibia in the hind leg of various four-legged mammals, especially horses, corresponding to the knee in humans.
2. A bone disease of this region.

Synonyms

suffocate

choke

suppress

smother

repress

asphyxiate

strangle

quell

muffle

quench

inhibit

dampen

oppress

crush

control

restrain

squelch

curb

choke off

detain

brake

stem

retain

hold back

gag

quash

put out

extinguish

knee

damp

throttle

press

check

withhold

deaden

bridle

run over

subdue

suffocated

suppression

swallow

trample

tuck in

drown out

force back

contain

rein in

bate

blanket

bottle up

Translations

soffocare

ersticken

sofocar

étouffer

réprimer

onderdrukken

sufocar

verstikken

sufocar

asfixiar

reprimir

abafar

ahogar

smoren

unterdrücken

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈstaɪfl̩/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: stuflen

Cognate with French: étouffer

Cognate with French: étouper

Cognate with French: étoffer

Inherited from Middle English: stifle

Cognate with Old French: estival

In summary

The verb is derived from Late Middle English stuflen (“to have difficulty breathing due to heat, stifle; to suffocate by drowning, drown”) [and other forms]; further etymology uncertain, perhaps from stuffen (“to kill by suffocation; to stifle from heat; to extinguish, suppress (body heat, breath, humour, etc.); to deprive a plant of the conditions necessary for growth, choke”) + -el- (derivational infix in verbs, often denoting diminutive, intensive, or repetitive actions or events). Stuffen is derived from Old French estofer, estouffer (“to choke, strangle, suffocate; (figuratively) to inhibit, prevent”) [and other forms] (modern French étouffer), a variant of estoper, estuper (“to block, plug, stop up; to stiffen, thicken”) (modern French étouper (“to caulk”)), influenced by estofer (“to pad, stuff; to upholster”) (modern French étoffer). Estoper is derived from Vulgar Latin *stuppāre, from Latin stuppa (“coarse flax, tow”) (as a stuffing material; from Ancient Greek στύπη (stúpē), στύππη (stúppē) (compare στυππεῖον (stuppeîon)); probably from Pre-Greek) + -āre. According to the Oxford English Dictionary a derivation from Old Norse stífla (“to dam; to choke, stop up”) “appears untenable on the ground both of form and sense”.
The noun is derived from the verb.