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stifle

 - 6 dictionary results

sti⋅fle

1  [stahy-fuhl] verb, -fled, -fling.
Use stifle in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to quell, crush, or end by force: to stifle a revolt; to stifle free expression.
2. to suppress, curb, or withhold: to stifle a yawn.
3. to kill by impeding respiration; smother.
–verb (used without object)
4. to suffer from difficulty in breathing, as in a close atmosphere.
5. to become stifled or suffocated.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME < ON stīfla to stop up, dam, akin to stīfr stiff

Related forms:
stifler, noun

Synonyms:
1. prevent, preclude, put down. 2. check. 3. suffocate, strangle, choke.

Antonyms:
1, 2. encourage.

sti⋅fle

2  [stahy-fuhl]
–noun
(in a horse or other quadruped) the joint between the femur and the tibia, corresponding anatomically to the human knee.
Also called stifle joint.

Origin:
1275–1325; ME < ?
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To stifle
sti·fle 1   (stī'fəl)   
v.   sti·fled, sti·fling, sti·fles

v.   tr.

  1. To interrupt or cut off (the voice, for example).

  2. To keep in or hold back; repress: stifled my indignation.

  3. To kill by preventing respiration; smother or suffocate.

v.   intr.

  1. To feel smothered or suffocated by or as if by close confinement in a stuffy room.

  2. To die of suffocation.


[Middle English stifilen, alteration (influenced by Old Norse stīfla, to stop up) of stuffen, stuflen, to stifle, choke, drown, from Old French estoufer, of Germanic origin.]
sti'fler n.
sti·fle 2   (stī'fəl)   
n.  The joint of the hind leg analogous to the human knee in certain quadrupeds, such as the horse.

[Middle English, possibly from Old French estivel, pipe, leg, tibia, from Latin stīpes, stick.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

stifle 
1387, "to choke, suffocate, drown," of uncertain origin, possibly an alteration of O.Fr. estouffer "to stifle, smother," which may be from a Gmc. source (cf. O.H.G. stopfon "to plug up, stuff"). Metaphoric sense is from 1577.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: sti·fle
Pronunciation: 'stI-f&l
Function: noun
: the joint next above the hock in the hind leg of a quadruped (as a horse)corresponding to the knee in humans
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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