muffle

More prosperity: Active noise cancellation has gotten good enough to muffle airplane noise and it’s almost there for human voices in offices.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 21, 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

How do we filter those so that we're getting the good sensory experiences and somehow put a muzzle muffle on ones that give us stress and anxiety?

From Salon ● May 4, 2023

Isa put a hand over Laney’s mouth to muffle her singing.

From "The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street" by Karina Yan Glaser

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

And again, they can detect this even if Zoom muffles a user’s audio.

From Slate ● Aug. 8, 2023

Hannah screams for a half second but quickly muffles it with her own hand.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr

One caveat: So much former junk-bond issuance has migrated to private credit that the signal may now be more muffled.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 29, 2026

Ferrari quotes a 0-62 mph acceleration of 3.3 seconds—and then comes the long, muffled howling in third and fourth gear.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2026

Collins stood outside for several agonizing minutes, hearing their muffled voices.

From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026

In the pop melody “Volveré,” she questions where her heart will remain once she leaves town, as muffled trumpets chime in at the outro.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026

Dimly, he could hear the watchers shouting encouragement to Hord, but their voices were muffled, as if he were underwater.

From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver

"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

He dropped his face in his hands, muffling his voice.

From BBC ● Nov. 30, 2024

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

Wintertime thunder can be harder to hear than in a summer storm because of the muffling effect of the snow, but it is the result of the same mechanics inside the storm cloud.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 24, 2023

I pull one of her pillows over my head, muffling my words.

From "Dumplin'" by Julie Murphy