All 3 Uses of
stifle
in
Notes from the Underground
- I tried to stifle all that was continually seething within me by means of external impressions.†
Chpt 2.1 *stifle = suppress (prevent something or decrease its development)
- But something hideous at once stifled all compassion in me; it even provoked me to greater venom.†
Chpt 2.9
- I mused fantastically, afterwards at home, stifling the living pang of my heart with fantastic dreams.†
Chpt 2.10 *
Definitions:
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(1)
(stifle as in: stifling the urge) to suppress (prevent something or decrease its development) -- often political freedom
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(2)
(stifle as in: the heat is stifling) to make breathing difficult or impossible -- often from heat or humidity
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(3)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
Much more rarely, to stifle is used in the context of anatomy to refer to a four-legged animal's equivalent of the human knee (the joint between the upper and lower leg).