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

But Mariam Lambert, a 39-year-old who said Nahel was a friend of her son, stressed the pressure of feeling that she and others, including fellow Muslims, had to muffle their identity.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 5, 2023

They're so, so loud that it doesn't matter where you turn it on or try to muffle it, it's just super loud.

From Salon ● Mar. 7, 2023

Regan covered her mouth to muffle her surprised snort as she turned to me, the intensity of her face lifting for a brief second.

From "Glitch" by Laura 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

Annabelle muffles a snort, but this cracks him up, and that cracks her up, and they are both bent over and laughing silently, holding their stomachs.

From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti

A streak across the sky, then a muffled blast.

From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026

Day was dedicated to the bit, making Hernandez crack with muffled laughter.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 15, 2026

On the Alto K98M, that click-clackiness is muffled by a rubbery internal gasket surrounding the keys.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 23, 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

He might have thought the cabin completely deserted but for the sharp scent of burning florals and a muffled clanking from somewhere above.

From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman

"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

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

Once my skin is free of the gel, hot air blows from the blanket’s inner lining over my body, muffling the noises in the room.

From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera