stifle

Etymology 1

The verb is derived from Late Middle English stuflen (“to have difficulty breathing due to heat, stifle; to suffocate by drowning, drown”) [and other forms]; further etymology uncertain, perhaps from stuffen (“to kill by suffocation; to stifle from heat; to extinguish, suppress (body heat, breath, humour, etc.); to deprive a plant of the conditions necessary for growth, choke”) + -el- (derivational infix in verbs, often denoting diminutive, intensive, or repetitive actions or events). Stuffen is derived from Old French estofer, estouffer (“to choke, strangle, suffocate; (figuratively) to inhibit, prevent”) [and other forms] (modern French étouffer), a variant of estoper, estuper (“to block, plug, stop up; to stiffen, thicken”) (modern French étouper (“to caulk”)), influenced by estofer (“to pad, stuff; to upholster”) (modern French étoffer). Estoper is derived from Vulgar Latin *stuppāre, from Latin stuppa (“coarse flax, tow”) (as a stuffing material; from Ancient Greek στύπη (stúpē), στύππη (stúppē) (compare στυππεῖον (stuppeîon)); probably from Pre-Greek) + -āre. According to the Oxford English Dictionary a derivation from Old Norse stífla (“to dam; to choke, stop up”) “appears untenable on the ground both of form and sense”. The noun is derived from the verb.

verb

1. (transitive, also figurative) To make (an animal or person) unconscious or cause (an animal or person) death by preventing breathing; to smother, to suffocate.
   I took my leave, being half stifled with the closeness of the room. 1708, Jonathan Swift, Accomplishment of the First Prediction
2. (transitive, hyperbolic) To cause (someone) difficulty in breathing, or a choking or gagging feeling.
   The heat was stifling the children.
3. (transitive, also figurative) To prevent (a breath, cough, or cry, or the voice, etc.) from being released from the throat.
4. (transitive) To make (something) unable to be heard by blocking it with some medium.
5. (transitive, figurative)
   1. (transitive) To keep in, hold back, or repress (something).
      The army stifled the rebellion.
      I desire only to have things fairly represented as they really are; no evidence smothered or stifled. 1723, Daniel Waterland, A Second Vindication of Christ's Divinity
      In fact, there was no suggestion of that, although Wolves deployed men behind the ball to stifle the league leaders in a first-half that proved very frustrating for City. October 29, 2011, Neil Johnston, “Norwich 3-3 Blackburn”, in BBC Sport
   2. (transitive) To prevent (something) from being revealed; to conceal, to hide, to suppress.
6. (transitive, agriculture (sericulture)) To treat (a silkworm cocoon) with steam as part of the process of silk production.
7. (intransitive) To die of suffocation.
   Two firemen tragically stifled in yesterday’s fire when trying to rescue an old lady from her bedroom.
8. (intransitive, hyperbolic) To feel smothered; to find it difficult to breathe.
   The heat felt stifling.

noun

1. (rare) An act or state of being stifled.

Etymology 2

The noun is derived from Middle English stifle (“joint between the femur and tibia of a quadruped”) [and other forms]; further etymology uncertain, probably derived from Anglo-Norman estive (“leg”), and Old French estive (“leg”) (compare Old French estival (“boot, shoe”)). The verb is derived from the noun.

noun

1. (zootomy) The joint between the femur and tibia in the hind leg of various four-legged mammals, especially horses, corresponding to the knee in humans.
2. (veterinary medicine) A bone disease of this region.

verb

1. (transitive) To cause (a dog, horse, or other four-legged mammal) to dislocate or sprain its stifle joint.