Real Dictionary

stifle
verb: If someone stifles something you consider to be a good thing, they prevent it from continuing.
verb: If you stifle a yawn or laugh, you prevent yourself from yawning or laughing.
verb: If you stifle your natural feelings or behaviour, you prevent yourself from having those feelings or behaving in that way.

stifle in American English 1
to kill by cutting off the supply of air from; suffocate; smother; choke
intransitive verb: to suffer from difficulty in breathing, as in a close atmosphere
transitive verb: to quell, crush, or end by force

stifle in American English 2
the kneelike joint above the hock in the hind leg of a horse, dog, etc.
noun: the joint between the femur and the tibia, corresponding anatomically to the human knee

stifle in British English 1
verb: to smother or suppress

stifle in British English 2
noun: the joint in the hind leg of a horse, dog, etc, between the femur and tibia