What does it mean to stifle someone?
To stifle is to cut off, hold back, or smother. You may stifle your cough if you don’t want to interrupt a lecture or you may stifle the competition if you fear losing. The verb stifle means “to choke, suffocate, drown.” It can describe a claustrophobic feeling, like getting smothered by kisses from your great aunt.
Does stifle mean shut up?
2. Restrain, repress, hold back, cut off, as ‘to stifle one’s indignation’. 3. (oneself) Shut up, be quiet.
What does stifle mean in British?
British Dictionary definitions for stifle (1 of 2)
stifle 1. / (ˈstaɪfəl) / verb. (tr) to smother or suppressstifle a cough. to feel or cause to feel discomfort and difficulty in breathing.
What does stifle a yawn mean?
If you stifle a yawn or laugh, you prevent yourself from yawning or laughing. She makes no attempt to stifle a yawn.
Who said stifle?
This word is most often spoken by Archie Bunker, played by Carroll O’Connor, on the TV show All in the Family (1971-79). Archie Bunker was everyone’s favorite TV dad of the 70s, but just because people liked watching him doesn’t mean people would want to live with him.