stifle (verb) – to cut, to block or close the throat (choke)

stifled (adjective) – having no air to breathe (also figuratively)

stifling (adjective) – to close something so that there is no air

Examples of how you can use stifle:

The students stifled a laugh when their lecturer hurt herself when she fell off a chair.

This boring class stifles my imagination.

He felt stifled in his little village. He wanted to escape to the big world.

The censuring authorities in that country stifle the press, and any opposition to their regime.

Why don’t you open a window? This room is stifling.

I want to go to the beach. I’m going mad in this stifling heat.