Muffle

n.
  1. The bare end of the nose between the nostrils; -- used esp. of ruminants.

v. t.
  1. To wrap up in something that conceals or protects; to wrap, as the face and neck, in thick and disguising folds; hence, to conceal or cover the face of; to envelop; to inclose; -- often with up.
  2. To prevent seeing, or hearing, or speaking, by wraps bound about the head; to blindfold; to deafen.
  3. To wrap or fit with something that dulls or deadens the sound of; as, to muffle the strings of a drum, or that part of an oar which rests in the rowlock; to muffle the exhaust of a motor vehicle.

v. i.
  1. To speak indistinctly, or without clear articulation.

n.
  1. Anything with which another thing, as an oar or drum, is muffled; also, a boxing glove; a muff.
  2. (Metal.) An earthenware compartment or oven, often shaped like a half cylinder, used in furnaces to protect objects heated from the direct action of the fire, as in scorification of ores, cupellation of ore buttons, etc.
  3. (Ceramics) A small oven for baking and fixing the colors of painted or printed pottery, without exposing the pottery to the flames of the furnace or kiln.
  4. A pulley block containing several sheaves.