What does étouffer in French mean?
What is the meaning of the word étouffer in French? The article explains the full meaning, pronunciation along with bilingual examples and instructions on how to use étouffer in French.
The word étouffer in French means suffocate, deaden, muffle, stifle, hush up, cover up, stifle, smother, suffocate, suffocate, choke, suffocate, smother, choke, snuff out, hold back, nip in the bud, muffle a sound, dampen a sound. To learn more, please see the details below.
Meaning of the word étouffer
suffocateverbe transitif (asphyxier) (transitive verb: Verb taking a direct object--for example, "Say something." "She found the cat.") On étouffe les pigeons pour les tuer. Pigeons are suffocated to kill them. |
deaden, muffleverbe transitif (atténuer un son) (transitive verb: Verb taking a direct object--for example, "Say something." "She found the cat.") Les buissons étouffent le bruit de la rue. The bushes deaden the noise of the road. |
stifleverbe transitif (faire taire) (figurative) (transitive verb: Verb taking a direct object--for example, "Say something." "She found the cat.") Le gouvernement de Charles X tenta d'étouffer la presse. Charles X's government tried to stifle the press. |
hush up, cover upverbe transitif (minimiser, ne pas ébruiter) (phrasal verb, transitive, separable: Verb with adverb(s) or preposition(s), having special meaning, divisible--for example, "call off" [=cancel], "call the game off," "call off the game.") Le conseil d'administration veut étouffer l'affaire. The board tried to hush the matter up. |
stifle, smotherverbe transitif (figuré (empêcher [qqn] de s'épanouir) (figurative) (transitive verb: Verb taking a direct object--for example, "Say something." "She found the cat.") Sa famille l'étouffait, elle a dû s'expatrier. Her family was stifling her; she had to emigrate. |
suffocateverbe intransitif (être asphyxié) (intransitive verb: Verb not taking a direct object--for example, "She jokes." "He has arrived.") Enfermé dans son cercueil, il étouffe et meurt en quelques heures. Shut in his coffin, he suffocated and died in a few hours. |
suffocateverbe intransitif (figuré (avoir très chaud) (figurative) (intransitive verb: Verb not taking a direct object--for example, "She jokes." "He has arrived.") Ouvrez les fenêtres, on étouffe ici ! Open the windows, we're suffocating in here! |
chokeverbe pronominal (s'asphyxier) (intransitive verb: Verb not taking a direct object--for example, "She jokes." "He has arrived.") Ne mange pas trop vite, ne va pas t'étouffer ! |
suffocate(s'asphyxier) (intransitive verb: Verb not taking a direct object--for example, "She jokes." "He has arrived.") Mon fils a manqué de s'étouffer avec une arête de poisson. My son almost choked on a fishbone. |
smother, chokeverbe transitif (empêcher un végétal de croître) (transitive verb: Verb taking a direct object--for example, "Say something." "She found the cat.") Les thuyas ont étouffé les hortensias. The thujas have smothered the hortensias. |
snuff outverbe transitif (ne pas laisser s'exprimer) (informal, figurative) (phrasal verb, transitive, separable: Verb with adverb(s) or preposition(s), having special meaning, divisible--for example, "call off" [=cancel], "call the game off," "call off the game.") La police a étouffé la tentative de complot dans l'œuf. The police snuffed out the plot attempt in its early stages. |
hold backverbe transitif (soutenu (réprimer) (phrasal verb, transitive, separable: Verb with adverb(s) or preposition(s), having special meaning, divisible--for example, "call off" [=cancel], "call the game off," "call off the game.") Il étouffa un geste de colère au dernier moment. At the last moment, he held back an angry gesture. |
nip in the budlocution verbale (figuré (faire mourir dès l'origine) (figurative) (verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.") La police secrète a étouffé cette révolution dans l'œuf. |
muffle a sound, dampen a soundlocution verbale (assourdir) (verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.") |
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French (le français) is a Romance language. Like Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish, it comes from popular Latin, once used in the Roman Empire. A French-speaking person or country can be called a "Francophone". French is the official language in 29 countries. French is the fourth most spoken native language in the European Union. French ranks third in the EU, after English and German, and is the second most widely taught language after English. The majority of the world's French-speaking population lives in Africa, with about 141 million Africans from 34 countries and territories who can speak French as a first or second language. French is the second most widely spoken language in Canada, after English, and both are official languages at the federal level. It is the first language of 9.5 million people or 29% and the second language of 2.07 million people or 6% of the entire population of Canada. In contrast to other continents, French has no popularity in Asia. Currently, no country in Asia recognizes French as an official language.