stifle

[stahy-fuhl]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR stifle ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), sti·fled, sti·fling.

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), sti·fled, sti·fling.

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

to become stifled or suffocated.

Origin of stifle

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

Related formssti·fler, nounun·sti·fled, adjective

Synonyms for stifle

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR stifle ON THESAURUS.COM

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

Antonyms for stifle

1, 2. encourage.

stifle

[stahy-fuh l]

noun

(in a horse or other quadruped) the joint between the femur and the tibia, corresponding anatomically to the human knee.

Origin of stifle

1275–1325; Middle English < ?

Also called stifle joint.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for stifle

muzzle, suppress, smother, repress, suffocate, curb, squelch, strangle, silence, asphyxiate, stultify, muffle, stagnate, stop, choke, cork, hush, trammel, kill, squash

Examples from the Web for stifle

Contemporary Examples of stifle

But the House approved a measure last month to stifle that proposed expansion.
Congress Wants to Keep Norwegian Airlines’ Cheap Flights Out of America
Tim Mak
July 11, 2014
Just as goals galore have defined this World Cup in Brazil, so too have the men whose job it is to stifle and stop those goals.
Team USA Goes Down Swinging in 2-1 World Cup Loss to Belgium
Tunku Varadarajan
July 1, 2014
The NY Governor has set off a right-wing firestorm, standing accused of seeking to stifle free speech and political plurality.
Governor Cuomo: ‘Extreme Conservatives Have No Place In New York’
David Freedlander
January 22, 2014
Good technology tends to win out over time, despite all the attempts by the old guard to stifle it.
No DNA Testing For You, Thanks to the FDA
Nick Gillespie
November 26, 2013
He again turns Medicare into a voucher program, a position he had to stifle in 2012, because Romney did not approve.
Why Paul Ryan’s Star Dimmed
Howard Kurtz
March 21, 2013

Historical Examples of stifle

As He knows so well where to hit us we must stifle our moans when He does so.
The Conquest of Fear
Basil King
So hard it is, even for the most depraved, to stifle the last embers of the moral sense.
Stories from Thucydides
H. L. Havell
Chip made haste to stifle his mirth, in fear that she was going to cry.
Chip, of the Flying U
B. M. Bower
Then, the moment I reached home, it seemed to me I should stifle were I to enter the house.
The Dream
Emile Zola
Because it seemed to me that we were all of us, all day long, endeavouring to stifle the voice.
The Uncommercial Traveller
Charles Dickens

British Dictionary definitions for stifle

stifle

verb

(tr) to smother or suppressstifle a cough

to feel or cause to feel discomfort and difficulty in breathing

to prevent or be prevented from breathing so as to cause death

(tr) to crush or stamp out

Derived Formsstifler, noun

Word Origin for stifle

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

stifle

noun

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

Word Origin for stifle

C14: of unknown origin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for stifle

late 14c., "to choke, suffocate, drown," of uncertain origin, possibly an alteration of Old French estouffer "to stifle, smother," which may be from a Germanic source (cf. Old High German stopfon "to plug up, stuff"). Metaphoric sense is from 1570s. Related: Stifled; stifling.