stifle
pronunciation
How to pronounce stifle in British English:
UK [ˈstaɪfl]
How to pronounce stifle in American English:
US [ˈstaɪfl]
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- Noun:
- joint between the femur and tibia in a quadruped; corresponds to the human knee
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- Verb:
- conceal or hide
- smother or suppress
- impair the respiration of or obstruct the air passage of
- be asphyxiated; die from lack of oxygen
Word Origin
- stifle
- stifle: [14] Stiffle was probably adapted from Old French estouffer ‘choke, smother’. This in turn went back to a Vulgar Latin *extuffāre, which may have been a blend of *extūfāre ‘take a steam bath’ (source of English stew) and late Latin stuppāre ‘stop up, plug’ (source of English stop and stuff).=> stew, stop, stuff
- stifle (v.)
- late 14c., "to choke, suffocate, drown," of uncertain origin, possibly an alteration of Old French estouffer "to stifle, smother" (Modern French étouffer), itself of uncertain origin, perhaps from a Germanic source (compare Old High German stopfon "to plug up, stuff"). Metaphoric sense is from 1570s. Related: Stifled; stifling.
Example
- 1. Patents are supposed to encourage innovation , not stifle it .
- 2. Why is this 13th-century law still permitted to stifle legitimate dissent ?
- 3. They have to let new markets develop , or stifle them .
- 4. B vitamins can help stifle homocysteine , an amino acid that damages blood vessels .
- 5. He warned that unilateral action by individual countries could destabilise the global economy and stifle growth .