Dictionary
Thesaurus
Reference
Translate
Web
Related Searches
on Ask.com
Synonyms
Nearby Entries

muffle

- 9 dictionary results

muf⋅fle

1  [muhf-uhl] verb, -fled, -fling, noun
Use muffle in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to wrap with something to deaden or prevent sound: to muffle drums.
2. to deaden (sound) by wrappings or other means.
3. to wrap or envelop in a cloak, shawl, coat, etc., esp. to keep warm or protect the face and neck (often fol. by up): Muffle up the children before they go out.
4. to wrap (oneself) in a garment or other covering: muffled in silk.
5. to alter temporarily the profile of (a plaster mold) in order to run a base coat of plaster that will later be covered by a finish coat having the true profile.
–noun
6. something that muffles.
7. muffled sound.
8. an oven or arched chamber in a furnace or kiln, used for heating substances without direct contact with the fire.
Origin:
1400–50; late ME mufeln, perh. aph. form of AF *amoufler, for OF enmoufler to wrap up, muffle, deriv. of moufle mitten (see en- 1 , muff ); (def. 8) directly < F moufle lit., mitten

muf⋅fle

2  [muhf-uhl]
–noun
the thick, bare part of the upper lip and nose of ruminants and rodents.
Origin:
1595–1605; < MF mufle muzzle, snout, prob. b. moufle chubby face (obscurely akin to G Muffel snout) and museau snout, muzzle
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To muffle
muf·fle 1   (mŭf'əl)   
tr.v.   muf·fled, muf·fling, muf·fles
  1. To wrap up, as in a blanket or shawl, for warmth, protection, or secrecy.
    1. To wrap or pad in order to deaden the sound: muffled the drums.
    2. To deaden (a sound): The sand muffled the hoofbeats.
  3. To make vague or obscure: "His message was so muffled by learning and 'artiness'" (Walter Blair).
  4. To repress; stifle.
n.  
  1. Something that muffles.
  2. A kiln or part of a kiln in which pottery can be fired without being exposed to direct flame.

[Middle English muflen, possibly from Old French mofler, to stuff, from mofle, glove; see muff2.]
muf·fle 2   (mŭf'əl)   
n.  The fleshy, hairless snout of certain mammals, such as ruminants.

[French mufle, perhaps blend of moufle, chubby face (from Old French; see muff2) and museau, muzzle (from Old French musel; see muzzle).]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

Muffle

Muf"fle\ (m[u^]f"f'l), n. The bare end of the nose between the nostrils; -- used esp. of ruminants.

Muffle

Muf"fle\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Muffled; p. pr. & vb. n. Muffling.] [Cf. F. moufle a mitten, LL. muffula, OD. moffel a muff. See Muff.]

1. To wrap up in something that conceals or protects; to wrap, as the face and neck, in thick and disguising folds; hence, to conceal or cover the face of; to envelop; to inclose; -- often with up. --South.

The face lies muffled up within the garment. --Addison.

He muffled with a cloud his mournful eyes. --Dryden.

Muffled up in darkness and superstition. --Arbuthnot.

2. To prevent seeing, or hearing, or speaking, by wraps bound about the head; to blindfold; to deafen.

3. To wrap with something that dulls or deadens the sound of; as, to muffle the strings of a drum, or that part of an oar which rests in the rowlock.

Muffle

Muf"fle\, v. i. [Cf. F. maffle, mumble, D. moffelen.] To speak indistinctly, or without clear articulation.

Muffle

Muf"fle\, n. [F. moufle, prop., a mitten, from the resemblance in shape. See Muffle, v. t., Muff.]

1. Anything with which another thing, as an oar or drum, is muffled; also, a boxing glove; a muff.

2. (Metal.) An earthenware compartment or oven, often shaped like a half cylinder, used in furnaces to protect objects heated from the direct action of the fire, as in scorification of ores, cupellation of ore buttons, etc.

3. (Ceramics) A small oven for baking and fixing the colors of painted or printed pottery, without exposing the pottery to the flames of the furnace or kiln.

4. A pulley block containing several sheaves. --Knight.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Cite This Source
Language Translation for : muffle
Spanish: amortiguar, ensordecer,
German: dämpfen,
Japanese: 音を消す
More Translations »

muffle  (v.)
c.1430, "to cover or wrap (something) to conceal or protect," perhaps from M.Fr. mofler "to stuff," from O.Fr. moufle "thick glove, muff" (cf. O.Fr. enmoufle "wrapped up"); see muff (n.). Meaning "wrap something up to deaden sound" first recorded 1761. Muffler as a kind of scarf is from 1535; as an automobile exhaust system silencer, it is attested from 1895.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Search another word or see muffle on Thesaurus | Reference
>