All 8 Uses of

stifle
in
Cinder, by Marissa Meyer

Cinder watched her shoulders tremble, listened to the short gasps of breath as she tried to stifle the sobs.†
p. 65.0 *

stifle = suppress (prevent something or decrease its development)

The heat rose up from the concrete floor, stifling in the cramped space.†
p. 16.5

The thought of Peony all alone in the quarantines spurred her out of her pile of blankets with a stifled groan.†
p. 144.2

CINDER SLUMPED DOWN AT HER WORK DESK, RELIEVED TO finally be out of that stifling apartment.†
p. 189.1

With a heavy sigh, she peeled the stifling gloves from her hands and slipped them into her pocket.†
p. 235.3

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).