muffle

Noun · Verb

Synonyms: smother stifle strangle repress mute dull damp dampen tone down

WordNet 3.0

Noun (1)

a kiln with an inner chamber for firing things at a low temperature

Verb (2)

conceal or hide“smother a yawn”“muffle one's anger”“strangle a yawn”Synonyms: smother stifle strangle repress
deaden (a sound or noise), especially by wrappingSynonyms: mute dull damp dampen tone down

Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

Muffle \Muf"fle\, v. i. [Cf. F. maffle, mumble, D. moffelen.] To speak indistinctly, or without clear articulation. [1913 Webster]

Muffle \Muf"fle\, n. [F. moufle, prop., a mitten, from the resemblance in shape. See Muffle, v. t., Muff.]

1.Anything with which another thing, as an oar or drum, is muffled; also, a boxing glove; a muff. [1913 Webster]

2.(Metal.) An earthenware compartment or oven, often shaped like a half cylinder, used in furnaces to protect objects heated from the direct action of the fire, as in scorification of ores, cupellation of ore buttons, etc. [1913 Webster]

3.(Ceramics) A small oven for baking and fixing the colors of painted or printed pottery, without exposing the pottery to the flames of the furnace or kiln. [1913 Webster]

4.A pulley block containing several sheaves. --Knight. [1913 Webster]

Muffle \Muf"fle\ (m[u^]f"f'l), n. The bare end of the nose between the nostrils; -- used esp. of ruminants. [1913 Webster]

Muffle \Muf"fle\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Muffled; p. pr. & vb. n. Muffling.] [Cf. F. moufle a mitten, LL. muffula, OD. moffel a muff. See Muff.]

1.To wrap up in something that conceals or protects; to wrap, as the face and neck, in thick and disguising folds; hence, to conceal or cover the face of; to envelop; to inclose; -- often with up. --South. [1913 Webster]

The face lies muffled up within the garment.— Addison.[1913 Webster]

He muffled with a cloud his mournful eyes.— Dryden.[1913 Webster]

Muffled up in darkness and superstition.— Arbuthnot.[1913 Webster]

2.To prevent seeing, or hearing, or speaking, by wraps bound about the head; to blindfold; to deafen. [1913 Webster]

3.To wrap or fit with something that dulls or deadens the sound of; as, to muffle the strings of a drum, or that part of an oar which rests in the rowlock; to muffle the exhaust of a motor vehicle. [1913 Webster]