A half-smothered cry reached him from somewhere in the direction of the barn.
Then there came a half-suppressed, half-smothered cry, a groan, and all was still.
There was a half-smothered exclamation of dismay from Marjorie.
They were half-smothered, lying on their faces as they were.
It is all crumbling to pieces and is half-smothered with creepers and grass.
At once the man started back with a half-smothered exclamation.
If my ears did not deceive me there was a gasp and a low wail, as of a half-smothered child.
A half-smothered sob was her reply, and a tear fell on his hand.
There are a lot of wharves, sheds, and vessels lying there half-smothered in mist.
For some minutes he did not move; then a half-smothered sigh escaped him.
c.1200, "to suffocate with smoke," from smother (n.), earlier smorthre "dense, suffocating smoke" (late 12c.), from stem of Old English smorian "to suffocate, choke, strangle, stifle," cognate with Middle Dutch smoren, German schmoren; possibly connected to smolder. Meaning "to kill by suffocation in any manner" is from 1540s; sense of "to extinguish a fire" is from 1590s. Sense of "stifle, repress" is first recorded 1570s; meaning "to cover thickly (with some substance)" is from 1590s. Related: Smothered; smothering.
