MUFFLER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does muffler mean? 

• MUFFLER (noun)
  The noun MUFFLER has 3 senses:

1. a tubular acoustic device inserted in the exhaust system that is designed to reduce noise

2. a scarf worn around the neck

3. a device that decreases the amplitude of electronic, mechanical, acoustical, or aerodynamic oscillations

  Familiarity information: MUFFLER used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MUFFLER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A tubular acoustic device inserted in the exhaust system that is designed to reduce noise

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

muffler; silencer

Hypernyms ("muffler" is a kind of...):

acoustic device (a device for amplifying or transmitting sound)

Holonyms ("muffler" is a part of...):

exhaust; exhaust system (system consisting of the parts of an engine through which burned gases or steam are discharged)

Derivation:

muffle (deaden (a sound or noise), especially by wrapping)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A scarf worn around the neck

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("muffler" is a kind of...):

scarf (a garment worn around the head or neck or shoulders for warmth or decoration)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A device that decreases the amplitude of electronic, mechanical, acoustical, or aerodynamic oscillations

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

damper; muffler

Hypernyms ("muffler" is a kind of...):

device (an instrumentality invented for a particular purpose)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "muffler"):

damper block; piano damper (damper consisting of a small felted block that drops onto a piano string to stop its vibration)

dash-pot (a mechanical damper; the vibrating part is attached to a piston that moves in a chamber filled with liquid)

cushion; shock; shock absorber (a mechanical damper; absorbs energy of sudden impulses)

Derivation:

muffle (deaden (a sound or noise), especially by wrapping)

 Context examples 

They say he’s quicker than Jem with the mufflers, but he can’t hit as hard.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Lord John Roxton steps briskly, and his thin, eager face beams forth between his hunting-cap and his muffler.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

‘By Jove!’ cried my client. ‘That’s Brunton’s muffler.’

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“You’ve seen me with the mufflers, Jackson! You know my form!”

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

In this space lay a large and heavy flagstone with a rusted iron ring in the centre to which a thick shepherd’s-check muffler was attached.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Clubs, dumbbells, walking, and a half-hour with the mufflers.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Very likely not, for he has never shown in the P.R. But they think great things of him in the West, and he can hold his own with either of the Belchers with the mufflers.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The sporting gentlemen of those days were very fine boxers for the most part, for it was the mode to take a course of Mendoza, just as a few years afterwards there was no man about town who had not had the mufflers on with Jackson.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)