muffler

American  

[muhf-ler] / ˈmʌf lər /

noun

• mufflers
  plural

1. a scarf worn around one's neck for warmth.

2. any of various devices for deadening sound, as the sound of escaping gases of an internal-combustion engine.

3. anything used for muffling sound.

4. Armor. a mittenlike glove worn with a mail hauberk.

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muffler British  

/ ˈmʌflə /

noun

1. a thick scarf, collar, etc

2. Also called (in Britain and certain other countries): silencer. any device designed to reduce noise, esp the tubular device containing baffle plates in the exhaust system of a motor vehicle

3. something that muffles

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• mufflers
  plural

Etymology

Origin of muffler

First recorded in 1525–35; muffle ¹ + -er ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

muffler mufflers

He even came to see me in his second-hand car, which was lacking a muffler, and we drove noisily over to Bass Lake and went swimming.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2025

Kelce has gone the extra mile, buying a onetime muffler shop to expand Operation Breakthrough’s campus and create the Ignition Lab, in which students convert dilapidated jalopies into lacquered, showroom-ready electric vehicles.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2024

On March 29, the city’s Department of Construction and Inspections ordered Hudson to remove modifications to his Hellcat’s muffler and exhaust system by April 15 or face penalties of up to $1,300 per day.

From Seattle Times ● May 31, 2024

According to court documents, a Portsmouth homeowner was working on his property in September 2020 when he heard the loud muffler of a passing car.

From Washington Times ● May 3, 2023

Following the voice, I found my father standing in the street in a soggy sweater, breath pluming before him like muffler exhaust on a cold morning.

From "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" by Ransom Riggs

This is a sport that named its bowl games for refrigerators, mufflers and weed eaters, and concludes a current one with the bleak, ritual toasting of an anthropomorphic Pop Tart.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026

There has been talk that mufflers could be used if the engines were considered too loud, despite the obvious logical inconsistency of that as an approach.

From BBC ● May 14, 2026

The price increases have been “modest,” he wrote, and on lower-priced products such as floor mats and mufflers.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 26, 2025

"Cars come by and they don't have mufflers," said Thomson, 54, who remodels homes for a living.

From Salon ● Jan. 6, 2023

They put on mittens and coats and warm hoods and shawls, and wrapped mufflers around their necks and thick woolen veils over their faces.

From "Little House in the Big Woods" by Laura Ingalls Wilder