stifle1
[stahy-fuh l]
- 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.
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- to suffer from difficulty in breathing, as in a close atmosphere.
- to become stifled or suffocated.
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Origin of stifle1
1350–1400; Middle English < Old Norse stīfla to stop up, dam, akin to stīfr stiff
Synonyms
See more synonyms for stifle on Thesaurus.com1. prevent, preclude, put down. 2. check. 3. suffocate, strangle, choke.
Antonyms
1, 2. encourage.
stifle2
[stahy-fuh l]
- (in a horse or other quadruped) the joint between the femur and the tibia, corresponding anatomically to the human knee.
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Origin of stifle2
1275–1325; Middle English < ?
Also called stifle joint.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for stifle
Contemporary Examples
But the House approved a measure last month to stifle that proposed expansion.
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.
The NY Governor has set off a right-wing firestorm, standing accused of seeking to stifle free speech and political plurality.
Good technology tends to win out over time, despite all the attempts by the old guard to stifle it.
He again turns Medicare into a voucher program, a position he had to stifle in 2012, because Romney did not approve.
Historical Examples
As He knows so well where to hit us we must stifle our moans when He does so.
The Conquest of FearBasil King
So hard it is, even for the most depraved, to stifle the last embers of the moral sense.
Stories from ThucydidesH. L. Havell
Chip made haste to stifle his mirth, in fear that she was going to cry.
Chip, of the Flying UB. M. Bower
Then, the moment I reached home, it seemed to me I should stifle were I to enter the house.
The DreamEmile Zola
Because it seemed to me that we were all of us, all day long, endeavouring to stifle the voice.
The Uncommercial TravellerCharles Dickens
stifle1
- (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
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Word Origin
C14: variant of stuflen, probably from Old French estouffer to smother
stifle2
- the joint in the hind leg of a horse, dog, etc, between the femur and tibia
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Word Origin
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
v.
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.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper