stifle

Definition

To make (an animal or person) unconscious or cause (an animal or person) to die by preventing breathing; to smother, to suffocate.

Etymology

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.

Example Sentences

• "I took my leave, being half stifled with the closeness of the room."
• "And while her Hand the ſtreaming Blood oppos'd; / Join'd Face to Face, his Lips with hers ſhe clos'd. / Stifled with Kiſſes, a ſweet Death he dies; / She fills the Fields with undiſtinguiſh'd Cries: [...]"
• "The heat was stifling the children."

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