stifle: [14] Stiffle was probably adapted from Old French estouffer ‘choke, smother’. This in turn went back to a Vulgar Latin *extuffāre, which may have been a blend of *extūfāre ‘take a steam bath’ (source of English stew) and late Latin stuppāre ‘stop up, plug’ (source of English stop and stuff). => stew, stop, stuff
