stifle

CEFRB2

/ˈstaɪfl̩/

verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    verb

    To stop a feeling, sound, or activity from growing.

  2. 02

    verb

    Extra detail

    To cause (someone) difficulty in breathing, or a choking or gagging feeling.

Examples

  • She tried to stifle a sneeze during the concert but she couldn't hold it back.

  • Why do you stifle me so by complaining?

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Also pronounced

  • /ˈstaɪf(ə)l/

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meanings

  1. To prevent (a breath, cough, or cry, or the voice, etc.) from being released from the throat.

  2. To make (an animal or person) unconscious or cause (an animal or person) to die by preventing breathing; to smother, to suffocate.

  3. To make (something) unable to be heard by blocking it with some medium.

More examples

In context

  • Two firemen tragically stifled in yesterday’s fire when trying to rescue an old lady from her bedroom.

  • The army stifled the rebellion.

  • The heat was stifling the children.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

During the solemn ceremony, she tried to blank her laughter to stay respectful.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

verb

The verb is derived from Late Middle English stuflen (“to have difficulty breathing due to heat, stifle; to suffocate by drowning, drown”) [and other forms]; further etymology uncertain. Also found in Middle English forstyflyd (“stifled, choked”, past participle). Perhaps derived from Middle English stuffen (“to kill by suffocation; to stifle from heat; to extinguish, suppress (body heat, breath, humour, etc.); to deprive a plant of the conditions necessary for growth, choke”) + -len (frequentative suffix). Stuffen is derived from Old French estofer, estouffer (“to choke, strangle, suffocate; (figuratively) to inhibit, prevent”) [and other forms] (modern French étouffer), a variant of estop...