STIFLE

v. 1 suffocate, smother, choke, strangle, throttle, asphyxiate The firemen were almost stifled by the smoke from the chemical fire 2 choke back, keep or hold back, withhold, repress, suppress, hold in, restrain, prevent, curb, cover up, control I stifled a yawn as John went on about his grandchildren 3 destroy, crush, demolish, extinguish, stamp out, kill, quash, silence, stop, check Under his tyrannical rule all artistic creativity was stifled for fifty years