| noun | joint between the femur and tibia in a quadruped; corresponds to the human knee |
| verb | conceal or hide “smother a yawn” |
| verb | smother or suppress “Stifle your curiosity” |
| verb | impair the respiration of or obstruct the air passage of “The foul air was slowly suffocating the children” |
| verb | be asphyxiated; die from lack of oxygen “The child suffocated under the pillow” |
| smotherer | noun | a person who stifles or smothers or suppresses |
| stifler | noun | a person who stifles or smothers or suppresses |
| stifling | noun | forceful prevention; putting down by power or authority |
| suffocative | adjective | causing difficulty in breathing especially through lack of fresh air and presence of heat |
| suffocation | noun | the condition of being deprived of oxygen (as by having breathing stopped) |
| asphyxiation | noun | the condition of being deprived of oxygen (as by having breathing stopped) |
| asphyxia | noun | a condition in which insufficient or no oxygen and carbon dioxide are exchanged on a ventilatory basis; caused by choking or drowning or electric shock or poison gas |
| choking | noun | a condition caused by blocking the airways to the lungs (as with food or swelling of the larynx) |