verb

stifle

STYFL

verb

To suppress or hold back something such as a sound, feeling, or reaction.

"She stifled a laugh during the funeral."

"The government was accused of stifling free speech."

To make breathing difficult, or to smother.

"The thick smoke began to stifle everyone in the room."

noun

In horses and other four-legged animals, the joint on the hind leg that corresponds to the human knee.

"The vet examined the horse's stifle after it started limping."

How to Use Stifle

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishTo hold something back so it cannot come out — a laugh, a cry, criticism, or even air itself.

Common pairings

stifle a yawn stifle creativity stifle dissent

stifled past tense, stifled past tense, stifles plural, stifles plural, stifles singular, stifles singular

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Can you complete this real example?

She _____ a laugh during the funeral.

Traced back through Middle English "stuflen" to Old French "estouffer" ("to choke or suffocate"), the same root that gives modern French "étouffer".

rifle trifle