Example: "A smothered cough"
To interrupt or cut off.
To repress, keep in or hold back.
Example: "The army stifled the rebellion."
To smother or suffocate.
Example: "The heat was stifling the children."
To feel smothered etc.
Example: "The heat felt stifling."
To die of suffocation.
Example: "Two firemen tragically stifled in yesterday's fire when trying to rescue an old lady from her bedroom."
To treat a silkworm cocoon with steam as part of the process of silk production.
That has been interrupted, suppressed etc
Example: "The stifled attempt at reform led to further resentment."