muffle

verb

muf·​fle ˈmə-fəl 

muffled; muffling ˈmə-f(ə-)liŋ 

transitive verb

1

: to wrap up so as to conceal or protect : envelop

2

obsolete : blindfold

3

a

: to wrap or pad with something to dull the sound

muffle the oarlocks

b

: to deaden the sound of

4

: keep down, suppress

muffled her anger

Synonyms

• mute
• stifle

Examples of muffle in a Sentence

They tried to muffle the noise.

I could hear their muffled voices from the next room.

Recent Examples on the Web

As of February, staffers from DOGE had pushed top-ranking officials at the Department of Education out of their offices, rearranged the furniture and set up white noise machines to muffle their voices, according to employees at the agency. —Lora Kolodny,ari Levy, CNBC, 22 Apr. 2025

Congressional push-back is inevitable, but the promise of tens of thousands of U.S. jobs can muffle many speeches. —Guney Yildiz, Forbes.com, 13 May 2025

Harvard researched how to use sonar against Nazi submarines and how to muffle noise in long-range bombers, contributing to the development of fiberglass. —L. Rafael Reif, Foreign Affairs, 6 May 2025

In turn, Landon placed a bath towel at the bottom of Bella’s bedroom door to muffle her cries, per the release. —Nicole Acosta, People.com, 6 May 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English muflen

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for muffle

• duffel
• duffle
• ruffle
• scuffle
• shuffle
• truffle
• reshuffle

Kids Definition

muffle

verb

muf·​fle ˈməf-əl 

muffled; muffling ˈməf-(ə-)liŋ 

1

: to wrap up so as to conceal or protect

2

: to deaden the sound of

muffle a cry