stifling

comparative more stifling · superlative most stifling

1. That stifles.

   The heat was stifling; it seemed hard to breathe and the exertion of rolling over on the bed seemed too much.

   2 more examples

   The oppression of the cabin was stifling, and Evelyn had left her; she could not bear his absence, and she followed him.

   1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter I, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, pages 365-366

   Who would go back to the stifling, wicked cities of civilized man when the mighty reaches of the great jungle offered peace and liberty? Not he.

   1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 119

1. gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of stifle

plural stiflings

1. The act by which something is stifled.

   Every man who is destroyed must destroy himself. When a man stifles an admonition of conscience, he may fairly be said to sow the stiflings of conscience.

   1857, Henry Clay Fish, Pulpit eloquence of the nineteenth century, page 507

   1 more example

   Despite this, Mott McDonald's report says: "Following the loss of employment in mining and manufacturing opportunities across the area, a lack of connectivity and accessibility to new opportunities has led to the stifling of development and inward investment.

   2022 November 30, Philip Haigh, “Expansion plans to restore Washington to rail network”, in RAIL, number 971, page 64