Muffle

1. (v. t.) To wrap with something that dulls or deadens the sound of; as, to muffle the strings of a drum, or that part of an oar which rests in the rowlock.

2. (n.) The bare end of the nose between the nostrils; -- used esp. of ruminants.

3. (v. t.) To wrap up in something that conceals or protects; to wrap, as the face and neck, in thick and disguising folds; hence, to conceal or cover the face of; to envelop; to enclose; -- often with up.

4. (v. t.) To prevent seeing, or hearing, or speaking, by wraps bound about the head; to blindfold; to deafen.

5. (v. i.) To speak indistinctly, or without clear articulation.

6. (v. t.) Anything with which another thing, as an oar or drum, is muffled; also, a boxing glove; a muff.

7. (n.) An earthenware compartment or oven, often shaped like a half cylinder, used in furnaces to protect objects heated from the direct action of the fire, as in scorification of ores, cupellation of ore buttons, etc.

8. (n.) A small oven for baking and fixing the colors of painted or printed pottery, without exposing the pottery to the flames of the furnace or kiln.

9. (n.) A pulley block containing several sheaves.

Thesaurus Entries

acoustic tile, antiknock, antlia, apply to, baffle, baffler, beak, beezer, bill, black out, blanket, block, bugle, bundle up, canopy, censor, choke, choke off, cloak, clothe, cloud, conceal, conk, cope, cover, cover up, cowl, curtain, cushion, damp, dampen, dampener, damper, deaden, deafen, dull, dumbfound, eclipse, enfold, enshroud, envelop, film, gag, hap, hood, hugger-mugger, hush, hush up, hush-hush, hushcloth, kill, lay on, lay over, mantle, mask, mellow, muffle up, muffler, mute, muzzle, nares, neb, nib, nose, nostrils, nozzle, obduce, obscure, occult, olfactory organ, overlay, overspread, pecker, proboscis, protect, put on, put to silence, quash, quiet, quieten, quietener, repress, rhinarium, rostrum, schnozzle, screen, scum, shield, shroud, shush, shut down on, silence, silence cloth, silencer, sit on, smeller, smother, snoot, snout, soft pedal, soft-pedal, soften, sordine, sordino, sound-absorbing material, soundproofing, soundproofing insulation, sourdine, spread over, squash, squelch, stifle, still, stop, strangle, strike dumb, subdue, superimpose, superpose, suppress, swaddle, swathe, throttle, tone down, trunk, veil, wrap, wrap up