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

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

When neighbors there complained about the loud noise from computer cooling fans at the bitcoin mining operation, he gave an interview to the Colorado Springs Independent, promising to plant pine trees to muffle the sound.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 26, 2023

The fog seemed to muffle the sound of Tiamat's footsteps.

From "Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher" by Bruce Coville

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

This muffles what the boys are saying out loud—because I can hear that, too, of course—but nothing stops me from hearing their thoughts.

From "Clairboyance" by Kristiana Kahakauwila

Full of sorrow and restraint, the opening verses are entombed by muffled synths before Liene explodes into an operatic wail of catharsis in the dying moments.

From BBC ● May 8, 2026

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

He has observed them nesting on prairies in Canada, hearing their muffled honks.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2025

Now she heard the sharp clack-clack of billiard cues, then the muffled thud as the ball hit the felted rim of the table and ricocheted into the pocket.

From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood

"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

In front of Eirik Johnson’s photo diptychs, you wonder: Does snow — a thick, muffling blanket devoid of color — obscure or reveal?

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 20, 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

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