stife Chiefly dial.
(staɪf)
Also 9 Sc. stoif.
A suffocating fume or vapour.
| 1636 Patent Specif. (1856) No. 98. 1 Which Seacoales soe Charked for that they Burne without Smoake, Stife, or other Annoyaunce. 1825 Jamieson, Stife, Stoif, a close sulphureous smell, particularly that arising from the burning of drossy coals. 1912 W. W. Gibson Fires ii. 38 The stealthy stife And deadly fume of burning coke. |