Muffle
Muffle (muf"f'l) , noun
The bare end of the nose between the nostrils; -- used esp. of ruminants.
Muffle , transitive verb
[Compare French moufle a mitten, Late Latin muffula, OD. moffel a muff. See Muff.]
1.
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 inclose; -- often with up. — South
The face lies muffled up within the garment.
He muffled with a cloud his mournful eyes.
Muffled up in darkness and superstition.
2.
To prevent seeing, or hearing, or speaking, by wraps bound about the head; to blindfold; to deafen.
3.
To wrap or fit 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; to muffle the exhaust of a motor vehicle.
Muffle , intransitive verb
[Compare French maffle, mumble, Dutch moffelen.]
To speak indistinctly, or without clear articulation.
Muffle , noun
[French moufle, prop., a mitten, from the resemblance in shape. See Muffle, transitive verb, Muff.]
1.
Anything with which another thing, as an oar or drum, is muffled; also, a boxing glove; a muff.
2.
(Metallurgy) 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.
3.
(Ceramics) 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.
4.
A pulley block containing several sheaves. — Knight