muffle

State said China had used a technique known as decoupling to muffle the register and evade detection.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 22, 2026

I watched as the woman cuffed the phone receiver, attempting, ironically, to muffle the private information she was giving to a 13-year-old.

From Slate ● Dec. 12, 2023

Neustadter, an executive producer here as well, notes, “When we meet Clare in our series, she’s trying to muffle her pain, but it’s always with her.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2023

The change, on the heels of a risk assessment done by the government, would likely muffle access to information showing changes in public sentiment toward the city.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 21, 2023

Back in the safety of her own chambers, she hugged a pillow to her face to muffle a squeal of joy.

From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin

Mr. Orhan offsets the novel’s magical realism with plainspoken prose that muffles Dilara’s increasingly volatile desires.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 5, 2026

The visible clutter sets off a contagious, slightly embarrassed giggle, which she muffles with her hands.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 18, 2025

The design of hearing aids muffles or blocks almost all of the natural unamplified sounds that stream into your ear canal.

From Salon ● Sep. 30, 2024

Gestational diabetes most commonly occurs during the third trimester of pregnancy when a woman’s body naturally muffles insulin signals, sparking labor difficulties for the woman and long-term afflictions for a newborn baby.

From Washington Times ● May 31, 2023

There aren’t as many people here, and the shade between two houses also muffles all the songs around us, but it also means we don’t have the best view.

From "King and the Dragonflies" by Kacen Callender

Several muffled booms were heard in the distance.

From Barron's ● Mar. 10, 2026

Then he heard muffled crying, and started to dig.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2025

Combined with the coloured, shimmering floor and walls, and a soundtrack of muffled voices, gongs and bird calls, it all creates a powerful if unnerving feeling of floating in another realm.

From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2025

Entire sectors of the city’s economy cannot function without immigrant labor, Bass said, citing the Fashion District in downtown Los Angeles, where raids have instilled acute fears and muffled business.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2025

When we blow the notes through the mutes in our trombone bells, the sound is rounded, soft and muffled, as if underwater.

From "Muffled" by Jennifer Gennari

"But a quantum computer acts like noise-canceling headphones that compare combinations of answers, amplifying the right ones while muffling the wrong ones."

From Science Daily ● Feb. 2, 2026

Seated on his sofa in a button-down shirt, worn Levi’s and blue-rimmed round glasses, Duncan offers me a chair and keeps distractions at bay, at one point muffling his ringing cellphone with a throw pillow.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2023

Giant arborvitae trees flank Maude’s Garden on Seattle’s First Hill, muffling the hum of city traffic for this tiny therapeutic oasis.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 22, 2023

It offered good protection, and Ivan found that the muffling of sound dulled his sense of mounting anxiety.

From BBC ● May 17, 2022

Her mother pulled her swiftly forward, muffling her mouth against her breast.

From "Tiger, Tiger" by Lynne Reid Banks