MUFFLE

muffle

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

smother, stifle, strangle, muffle, repress

(verb) suppress in order to conceal or hide; “smother a yawn”; “muffle one’s anger”; “strangle a laugh”; “repress a cry of fear”

muffle, mute, dull, damp, dampen, tone down

(verb) deaden (a sound or noise), especially by wrapping

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Noun

muffle (plural muffles)

Anything that mutes or deadens sound.

A warm piece of clothing for the hands.

(slang, archaic) A boxing glove.

A kiln or furnace, often electric, with no direct flames (a muffle furnace)

The bare end of the nose between the nostrils, especially in ruminants.

A machine with two pulleys to hoist load by spinning wheels, polyspast, block and tackle.

Verb

muffle (third-person singular simple present muffles, present participle muffling, simple past and past participle muffled)

(transitive) To wrap (a person, face etc.) in fabric or another covering, for warmth or protection; often with up.

(transitive) To wrap up or cover (a source of noise) in order to deaden the sound.

(transitive) To mute or deaden (a sound etc.).

(intransitive, dated) To speak indistinctly, or without clear articulation.

(transitive, dated) To prevent seeing, or hearing, or speaking, by wraps bound about the head; to blindfold; to deafen.

Source: Wiktionary

Muf"fle, n.

Definition: The bare end of the nose between the nostrils; -- used esp. of ruminants.

Muf"fle, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Muffled; p. pr. & vb. n. Muffling.] Etym: [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 disguishing folds; hence, to conceal or cover the face of; to envelop; to inclose; -- often with up. South. The face lies muffled up within the garment. Addison. He muffled with a cloud his mournful eyes. Dryden. Muffled up in darkness and superstition. Arbuthnot.

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

3. To wrap 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.

Muf"fle, v. i. Etym: [Cf. F. maffle, mumble, D. moffelen.]

Definition: To speak indistinctly, or without clear articulation.

Muf"fle, n. Etym: [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.

2. (Metal.)

Definition: 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.

3. (Ceramics)

Definition: 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.

4. A pulley block containing several sheaves. Knight.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition