sti|fle

sti|fle¹ «STY fuhl», verb, -fled, -fling.

–v.t.

1. a) to stop the breath of; smother; suffocate: »

The smoke stifled the firemen.

SYNONYM(S): strangle. b) to choke to death. SYNONYM(S): strangle.

2. to keep back or down; stop; suppress: »

to stifle a cry, stifle a yawn, Figurative. stifle business activity, Figurative. to stifle a rebellion.

SYNONYM(S): repress.

3. to smother or extinguish: »

to stifle a flame. The fog…stifled the roar of the traffic of London (Rudyard Kipling).

–v.i.

1. to be unable to breathe freely: »

I am stifling in this hot room. Figurative. Brother, the creed would stifle me That shelters you (Karle Wilson).

SYNONYM(S): choke, strangle.

2. to die or become unconscious by being unable to breathe.

╂[Middle English stufflen or stifflen < stuffen to stuff, stifle; perhaps influenced by Scandinavian. Compare Old Icelandic stīfla dam up (water).]

–sti´fler, noun.

sti|fle² «STY fuhl», noun, or stifle joint,

the joint of the upper hind leg of various animals, such as horses or dogs, corresponding to the knee of a human being.

╂[origin unknown]