MUFFLE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does muffle mean? 

• MUFFLE (noun)
  The noun MUFFLE has 1 sense:

1. a kiln with an inner chamber for firing things at a low temperature

  Familiarity information: MUFFLE used as a noun is very rare.

• MUFFLE (verb)
  The verb MUFFLE has 2 senses:

1. suppress in order to conceal or hide

2. deaden (a sound or noise), especially by wrapping

  Familiarity information: MUFFLE used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MUFFLE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A kiln with an inner chamber for firing things at a low temperature

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("muffle" is a kind of...):

kiln (a furnace for firing or burning or drying such things as porcelain or bricks)

• MUFFLE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they muffle    ... he / she / it muffles   
Past simple: muffled   
Past participle: muffled   
-ing form: muffling   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Suppress in order to conceal or hide

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

muffle; repress; smother; stifle; strangle

Context example:

repress a cry of fear

Hypernyms (to "muffle" is one way to...):

bottle up; inhibit; suppress (consciously restrain from showing; of emotions, desires, impulses, or behavior)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Deaden (a sound or noise), especially by wrapping

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Synonyms:

damp; dampen; dull; muffle; mute; tone down

Hypernyms (to "muffle" is one way to...):

soften (make (images or sounds) soft or softer)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

muffler (a device that decreases the amplitude of electronic, mechanical, acoustical, or aerodynamic oscillations)

muffler (a tubular acoustic device inserted in the exhaust system that is designed to reduce noise)

 Context examples 

He replied in a muffled voice he did not recognize, saying that he was merely taking a nap.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

“Larsen,” I heard a muffled voice from within the mass.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

"They do sometimes," said a muffled voice from the post.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

I heard voices, too, speaking with a hollow sound, and as if muffled by a rush of wind or water: agitation, uncertainty, and an all-predominating sense of terror confused my faculties.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Her voice, too, which had been so clear and ringing, was now low and muffled as that of one who speaks from a distance.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

At length, Dora regularly muffled him in a towel and shut him up there, whenever my aunt was reported at the door.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

I know it, for now and then I hear a far-away muffled sound as of mattock and spade, and, whatever it is, it must be the end of some ruthless villainy.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

This he received without perturbation, though he obeyed it by keeping his distance; but he remained interested in the other sounds—faint, muffled sobbings and slubberings.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

"Come in," Messner called, in a voice muffled because at the moment he was sucking loose a fragment of ice from its anchorage on his upper lip.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

Attacks of dizziness may come on suddenly or after a short period of tinnitus or muffled hearing.

(Meniere's Disease, NIH: National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders)