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stifle

[stahy-fuhl]

Origin

verb (used with object)

to quell, crush, or end by force: to stifle a revolt; to stifle free expression.

to suppress, curb, or withhold: to stifle a yawn.

to kill by impeding respiration; smother.

verb (used without object)

to suffer from difficulty in breathing, as in a close atmosphere.

to become stifled or suffocated.

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Stifle is one of our favorite verbs.

So is hornswoggle. Does it mean:

to expurgate (a written work) by removing or modifying passages considered vulgar or objectionable.

to swindle, cheat, hoodwink, or hoax.

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Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English < Old Norse stīfla to stop up, dam, akin to stīfr stiff

Related forms

sti·fler, noun

un·sti·fled, adjective

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

Antonyms
1, 2. encourage.

Dictionary.com Unabridged

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; Middle English < ?

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To stifle

Collins

World English Dictionary

stifle¹ (ˈstaɪf^əl)

—vb
1.	(tr) to smother or suppress: stifle a cough
2.	to feel or cause to feel discomfort and difficulty in breathing
3.	to prevent or be prevented from breathing so as to cause death
4.	(tr) to crush or stamp out

[C14: variant of stuflen, probably from Old French estouffer to smother]

'stifler¹

—n

stifle² (ˈstaɪf^əl)

—n
	the joint in the hind leg of a horse, dog, etc, between the femur and tibia

[C14: of unknown origin]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

stifle

late 14c., "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 1570s.

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Related Words

choke damp gaskin knee smother

smother stiff stifling still

Matching Quote

"Suddenly to realise that one is sitting, damned, among the other damned—it is a most disquieting experience; so disquieting that most of us react to it by immediately plunging more deeply into our particular damnation in the hope, generally realized, that we may be able, at least for a time, to stifle our revolutionary knowledge."

-Aldous Huxley

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