Noun
- 1. suppression, crushing, quelling, stifling, prevention, bar
- usage: forceful prevention; putting down by power or authority; "the suppression of heresy"; "the quelling of the rebellion"; "the stifling of all dissent"
Verb
- 1. smother, stifle, strangle, muffle, repress, suppress, stamp down, inhibit, subdue, conquer, curb
- usage: conceal or hide; "smother a yawn"; "muffle one's anger"; "strangle a yawn"
- 2. stifle, dampen, suppress, stamp down, inhibit, subdue, conquer, curb
- usage: smother or suppress; "Stifle your curiosity"
- 3. suffocate, stifle, asphyxiate, choke, obstruct, obturate, impede, occlude, jam, block, close up
- usage: impair the respiration of or obstruct the air passage of; "The foul air was slowly suffocating the children"
- 4. suffocate, stifle, asphyxiate, die, decease, perish, go, exit, pass away, expire, pass, kick the bucket, cash in one's chips, buy the farm, conk, give-up the ghost, drop dead, pop off, choke, croak, snuff it
- usage: be asphyxiated; die from lack of oxygen; "The child suffocated under the pillow"
Adjective
- 1. sultry, stifling, sulfurous, sulphurous, hot (vs. cold)
- usage: characterized by oppressive heat and humidity; "the summer was sultry and oppressive"; "the stifling atmosphere"; "the sulfurous atmosphere preceding a thunderstorm"
WordNet 3.0 Copyright © 2006 by Princeton University.
All rights reserved.Definition and meaning of stifling (Dictionary)