Category:Muffle

Muf"fle, n.

Defn: The bare end of the nose between the nostrils; -- used esp. of ruminants.

muffle Muf"fle, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Muffled; p. pr. & vb. n. Muffling.] Etym: [Cf. F. moufle a mitten, LL. 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 disguishing 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. Addison. He muffled with a cloud his mournful eyes. Dryden. Muffled up in darkness and superstition. Arbuthnot.

2. To prevent seeing, or hearing, or speaking, by wraps bound about the head; to blindfold; to deafen.

3. 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.

muffle Muf"fle, v. i. Etym: [Cf. F. maffle, mumble, D. moffelen.]

Defn: To speak indistinctly, or without clear articulation.

muffle Muf"fle, n. Etym: [F. moufle, prop., a mitten, from the resemblance in shape. See Muffle, v. t., Muff.]

1. Anything with which another thing, as an oar or drum, is muffled; also, a boxing glove; a muff.

2. (Metal.)

Defn: 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)

Defn: 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.