1. v.
1. tr. smother, suppress (stifled a yawn).
2 intr. & tr. experience or cause to experience constraint of breathing (stifling heat).
3 tr. kill by suffocating.
Derivatives:
stifler n. stiflingly adv.
Etymology: perh. alt. of ME stuffe, stuffle f. OF estouffer 2. n. (in full stifle-joint) a joint in the legs of horses, dogs, etc., equivalent to the knee in humans.
Phrases and idioms:
stifle-bone the bone in front of this joint.
Etymology: ME: orig. unkn.