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Another word for stifle

a-z
Verb

  1. To hold (something requiring an outlet) in check

      1. To suppress:
      2. To lessen the speed of (an engine, vehicle, etc.) by this or similar means; slow (down)
      3. To stop the utterance or action of; censor or suppress
      1. To inhibit the expression of (a gene):
      2. To curtail or inhibit the activity of something, such as the immune system or a gene.
      3. To restrain the growth, activity, or release of:
      1. To kill by squeezing the throat so as to choke or suffocate; throttle.
      2. To kill by squeezing the throat as with the hands, a noose, etc., so as to shut off the breath; throttle; choke
      3. To suppress, repress, or stifle:
      1. To walk heavily, as through mud, making a sucking sound
      2. To produce a splashing, squishing, or sucking sound, as when walking through ooze.
      3. To suppress or silence completely and with a crushing effect
      1. To lavish a surfeit of a given emotion on (someone):
      2. To hide or suppress by or as by covering; stifle
      3. To conceal, suppress, or hide:
      1. To control so strictly or severely as to prevent the natural development or expression of
      2. To hold back or prevent by an act of volition:
      3. To put down or subdue by force:
      1. To cool (hot steel, etc.) suddenly by plunging into water, oil, or the like
      2. To put out (a fire, for example); extinguish.
      3. To overcome; subdue; suppress
      1. To repress; stifle.
      2. To deaden (a sound), as by wrapping
      3. To wrap or cover in order to deaden or prevent sound
      1. To be or become silent or still.
      2. To stop making noise; be or become quiet or silent
      3. To keep from public knowledge; suppress mention of. Often used with up :
      1. (Idiomatic) To continue, to hold and to manage well.
      2. (Idiomatic) To restrain; to check.
      1. (Idiomatic) to delay, especially in school
      2. (Idiomatic) to contain; stop
      1. To block off or obstruct (a pipe or valve, for example).
      2. To experience a regurgitative spasm in the throat, as from revulsion to a food or smell or in reflexive response to an introduced object.
      3. (Mech.) To choke or stop up (a valve, etc.)
      1. To affect with a sense of strangulation by passion or strong feeling.
      2. To become strained with emotion
      3. (Informal) To be unable to perform efficiently, as in a sporting event, because of tension, strong emotion, etc.
      1. To avoid; disregard:
      2. To get rid of quietly; evade or suppress, as a parliamentary bill, discussion, etc.
      3. (Obs.) To murder by suffocating so as to leave the body unmarked and fit to be sold for dissection
    See also:

    restraint

  2. To decrease or dull the sound of

      1. To soften the tone, color, shade, or hue of.
      2. To soften or muffle the sound of (a musical instrument, etc.) as with a mute
      1. To deaden (a sound):
      2. To wrap or cover in order to deaden or prevent sound
      3. To prevent the expression of; stifle
      1. To become as if dead; lose vigor, intensity, etc.
      2. To render less intense, sensitive, or vigorous:
      3. To lessen the vigor, intensity, or liveliness of; dull
      1. To deaden, depress, reduce, or lessen
      2. (Intransitive) To become damp; to deaden.
      3. To deaden, restrain, or depress:
    See also:

    sounds

    increase

  3. To keep from being published or transmitted

      1. To abolish by authority
      2. To inhibit the expression of (a gene):
      3. To restrain the growth, activity, or release of:
      1. To be or become silent or still.
      2. To stop making noise; be or become quiet or silent
      3. To keep from public knowledge; suppress mention of. Often used with up :
      1. To examine and expurgate.
      2. To subject (a book, film, writer, etc.) to the close examination of a censor
      1. To prohibit, as by official order, from doing, using, appearing, happening, etc.; forbid; censor
      2. To prohibit (an action) or forbid the use of (something), especially by official decree:
      3. (South African) Under the former system of apartheid, to deprive (a person suspected of illegal activity) of the right of free movement and association with others.
    Idioms:
    See also:

    show

  4. To stop the breathing of

      1. To impair the breathing of or cause discomfort to by cutting off the supply of fresh air.
      2. To be unable to develop properly as because of a repressive or dulling environment
      3. To be unable to breathe freely; choke; stifle; smother
      1. To deprive (a fire) of the oxygen necessary for combustion.
      2. To overwhelm, dominate, suppress, or impede in a manner regarded as suffocating
      3. To suffocate.
      1. (Sports) To shorten one's grip on the handle of a bat or racket. Often used with up.
      2. To interfere with the respiration of by compression or obstruction of the larynx or trachea.
      3. To prevent from breathing by blocking the windpipe; suffocate; smother; stifle; often, specif., to prevent from breathing by squeezing the throat of; strangle
      1. To undergo asphyxia; suffocate.
      2. To cause asphyxia in; smother.
      3. To suffocate
    See also:

    breath

© Roget’s II: The New Thesaurus Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Another word for stifle

Verb
      1. To put an end to or make extinct; destroy:
      2. (Psychology) To bring about the extinction of (a conditioned response).
      3. To cause a fire or light to stop burning or shining; put out.
      1. To impair the breathing of or cause discomfort to by cutting off the supply of fresh air.
      2. To kill or destroy by preventing access of air or oxygen.
      3. To be unable to breathe freely; choke; stifle; smother
      1. To deprive (a fire) of the oxygen necessary for combustion.
      2. To be extinguished.
      3. To suffocate.
    See also:

    choke

© WEBSTER’S NEW WORLD® ROGET’S A-Z THESAURUS by Charlton Laird and the editors of Webster’s New World dictionaries. Copyright © 1999 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Sentence Examples

  • Brady's comment made her stifle a laugh.

  • In spite of the seriousness of the situation, Dean was forced to stifle a chuckle.

  • She pretended to stifle a yawn.

  • In the crowd people began talking loudly, to stifle their feelings of pity as it seemed to Pierre.

  • What angered him was that the coming of these visitors revived in his mind an unsettled question he always tried to stifle, one about which he always deceived himself.

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Words that mention stifle in the Dictionary

Words near stifle in the Thesaurus