All 4 Uses of
stifle
in
Divergent, by Veronica Roth
- The mousy-haired girl clamps her hand over her mouth and stifles a sob.
p. 72.6stifles = suppresses
- I cover my mouth to stifle a sob.
p. 73.7stifle = suppress
- He grits his teeth to stifle a groan.
p. 244.2
- Pain rushes through my body in sharp bursts, but I try to ignore it, stifling a groan.
p. 285.1 *stifling = suppressing (preventing something or decreasing its development)
Definitions:
-
(1)
(stifle as in: stifling the urge) to suppress (prevent something or decrease its development) -- often political freedom
-
(2)
(stifle as in: the heat is stifling) to make breathing difficult or impossible -- often from heat or humidity
-
(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).