muffle Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a kiln with an inner chamber for firing things at a low temperature
  2. verb conceal or hide
    strangle; stifle; smother; repress.
    • smother a yawn
    • muffle one's anger
    • strangle a yawn
  3. verb deaden (a sound or noise), especially by wrapping
    dampen; mute; damp; tone down; dull.

WordNet

Muf"fle noun
Definitions
  1. The bare end of the nose between the nostrils; -- used esp. of ruminants.
Muf"fle transitive verb
Etymology
Cf. F. moufle a mitten, LL. muffula, OD. moffel a muff. See Muff.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Muffled ; present participle & verbal noun Muffling
Definitions
  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 intransitive verb
Etymology
Cf. F. maffle, mumble, D. moffelen.
Definitions
  1. To speak indistinctly, or without clear articulation.
Muf"fle noun
Etymology
F. moufle, prop., a mitten, from the resemblance in shape. See Muffle, v. t., Muff.
Definitions
  1. Anything with which another thing, as an oar or drum, is muffled; also, a boxing glove; a muff.
  2. (Metal.) 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) 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.

Webster 1913