All 3 Uses
stifle
in
Touching Spirit Bear
(Edited)
- In the summer's stifling heat, the room seemed airless and threatening.
Chpt 3 *stifling = so hot and humid that breathing is more difficult
- Panicking, Cole stifled a cough—he didn't dare cough.
Chpt 10 *stifled = suppressed (held back)
- Cole's body ached with weariness, and he stifled yawns as he prepared supper.
Chpt 20stifled = suppressed (prevented something or decreased its development)
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) 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).