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muffle

   Also found in: Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.04 sec.
muf·fle 1  (mfl)
tr.v. muf·fled, muf·fling, muf·fles
1. To wrap up, as in a blanket or shawl, for warmth, protection, or secrecy.
2.
a. To wrap or pad in order to deaden the sound: muffled the drums.
b. To deaden (a sound): The sand muffled the hoofbeats.
3. To make vague or obscure: "His message was so muffled by learning and 'artiness'" Walter Blair.
4. To repress; stifle.
n.
1. Something that muffles.
2. A kiln or part of a kiln in which pottery can be fired without being exposed to direct flame.

[Middle English muflen, possibly from Old French mofler, to stuff, from mofle, glove; see muff2.]

muffle
Verb
[-fling, -fled]
1. to deaden (a sound or noise), esp. by wrapping the source of it in something: the sound was muffled by the double glazing
2. to wrap up in a scarf or coat for warmth
3. to censor or restrict: an attempt to muffle criticism [probably Old French moufle mitten]
muffled adj
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.mufflemuffle - a kiln with an inner chamber for firing things at a low temperature
kiln - a furnace for firing or burning or drying such things as porcelain or bricks
Verb1.muffle - conceal or hide; "smother a yawn"; "muffle one's anger"; "strangle a yawn"
conquer, inhibit, stamp down, suppress, subdue, curb - to put down by force or authority; "suppress a nascent uprising"; "stamp down on littering"; "conquer one's desires"
2.mufflemuffle - deaden (a sound or noise), especially by wrapping
soften - make (images or sounds) soft or softer

muffle
verb 2. (often with up) wrap up, cover, disguise, conceal, cloak, shroud, swathe, envelop, swaddle
Translations
Spanish muffle [ˈmʌfl] vt [+ sound] → amortiguar;
(against cold) → abrigar

French muffle [ˈmʌfl] vt [+ sound] → assourdir, étouffer;
(against cold) → emmitoufler

German muffle [ˈmʌfl] vt (sound) → dämpfen;
(against cold) → einmummeln

Italian muffle [ˈmʌfl] vt [+ sound] → smorzare, attutire;
(against cold) → imbacuccare

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So that, through their zeal for him, they had all conspired, so far as in them lay, to muffle up the knowledge of this thing from others; and hence it was, that not till a considerable interval had elapsed, did it transpire upon the Pequod's decks.
That's a graveyard, and it's proper to muffle the drums and lower the flags as we go by, and we'd better take off our hats, too; it's more respectable, I think.
The fog still slept on the wing above the drowned city, where the lamps glimmered like carbuncles; and through the muffle and smother of these fallen clouds, the procession of the town's life was still rolling in through the great arteries with a sound as of a mighty wind.
 
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