stifle in French

(zootomy) The joint between the femur and tibia in the hind leg of various four-legged mammals, especially horses, corresponding to the knee in humans.

(transitive, also, figuratively) To make (an animal or person) unconscious or cause (an animal or person) death by preventing breathing; to smother, to suffocate.

(transitive) To keep in, hold back, or repress (something).

(intransitive) To die of suffocation.