Muffle /(mŭf"f'l)/

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

imp. & p. p. Muffled; p. pr. & vb. n. Muffling

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.

   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.

1. To speak indistinctly, or without clear articulation.

1. Anything with which another thing, as an oar or drum, is muffled; also, a boxing glove; a muff.
2. 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. (Metal.)
3. 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. (Ceramics)
4. A pulley block containing several sheaves.