stifle Meaning, Definition & Usage

noun joint between the femur and tibia in a quadruped; corresponds to the human knee
knee.
verb conceal or hide
muffle; strangle; smother; repress.
- smother a yawn
- muffle one's anger
- strangle a yawn
verb smother or suppress
dampen.
- Stifle your curiosity
verb impair the respiration of or obstruct the air passage of
suffocate; asphyxiate; choke.
- The foul air was slowly suffocating the children
verb be asphyxiated; die from lack of oxygen
suffocate; asphyxiate.
- The child suffocated under the pillow

From Stiff.

(Far.) The joint next above the hock, and near the flank, in the hind leg of the horse and allied animals; the joint corresponding to the knee in man; -- called also stifle joint. See Illust. under Horse.

Freq. of OE. stif stiff; cf. Icel. stifla to dam up.

imperfect & past participle Stifled ; present participle & verbal noun Stifling

To stop the breath of by crowding something into the windpipe, or introducing an irrespirable substance into the lungs; to choke; to suffocate; to cause the death of by such means; as, to stifle one with smoke or dust.
Stifled with kisses, a sweet death he dies. Dryden.

I took my leave, being half stifled with the closeness of the room. Swift.
To stop; to extinguish; to deaden; to quench; as, to stifle the breath; to stifle a fire or flame.
Bodies . . . stifle in themselves the rays which they do not reflect or transmit. Sir I. Newton.
To suppress the manifestation or report of; to smother; to conceal from public knowledge; as, to stifle a story; to stifle passion.
I desire only to have things fairly represented as they really are; no evidence smothered or stifled. Waterland.

To die by reason of obstruction of the breath, or because some noxious substance prevents respiration.
You shall stifle in your own report. Shak.