muffler
(ˈmʌflə(r))
Also 6 mofeler, muffelar, (? muffley), mufflar, 6–7 mufler.
[f. muffle v.1 + -er1.]
1. a. A sort of kerchief or scarf worn by women in the 16th and 17th century to cover part of the face and the neck, either for partial concealment when in public, or as a protection against the sun or wind. Obs. exc. Hist.
| 1535–6 in Fairholt Costume (ed. 3, 1885) II. 292 Muffelars. 1536 in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. ii. II. 80 She hath neither..handcerchers, nor mofelers, nor begens. 1540 in Strype Eccl. Mem. (1721) I. App. cxiv. 311 The Kings Majesty had brought..a muffley furred, to geve the Quene. 1560 Bible (Geneva) Isa. iii. 21 The rings and the mufflers. 1598 Yong Diana 19 Pulling off her muffler, mine eies behelde a face, whose countenance [etc.]. 1651 Jer. Taylor Holy Dying iii. §4 (1686) 75 The image of the Goddess Angerona was with a muffler upon her mouth placed upon the Altar of Volupia, to represent, that those persons who bear their sicknesses and sorrows without murmurs, shall certainly pass from sorrow to pleasure. 1694 Motteux Rabelais v. xxvii. (1737) 118 Mufflers.., which they call Masks. 1820 Scott Abbot xxvii, From some awkwardness in her management of the muffler, she was unable again to adjust it with that dexterity which was a principal accomplishment of the coquettes of the time. |
† b. A bandage for blindfolding a person. Obs.
| 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, iii. vi. 33. 1609 E. Hoby Let. to Mr. T. H. 43 By this you may see, (if the muffler of Superstition hath not cleane hoodwinked your eyes) the weaknes of your first ground. 1621 Quarles Esther xvi, Like as a pris'ner muffl'd at the tree,..At last (vnlook'd for) comes a slow Reprieue, And makes him (euen as dead) once more aliue: Amaz'd, he rends deaths Muffler from his eyes. |
c. A wrap or scarf (usually of wool or silk) worn round the neck or throat, by both men and women, for warmth. Also gen. anything used to muffle the head or face or any part of the person.
| 1594 Lyly Moth. Bomb. iii. iii, Silena, I praie you looke homeward, it is a colde aire, and you want your mufler. 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 35 Cloath'd with long Breeches to their Toes, and Mufflers on their Hands and Face. 1787 M. Cutler in Life, etc. (1888) I. 200 Very unwell. Went to meeting with my muffler. 1874 Symonds Sk. Italy & Greece (1898) I. ii. 45 The mufflers in which his father..has wrapped the child. 1895 Army & Navy Price List 15 Sept. 1156/2 Gentlemen's..Cashmere Mufflers..Silk Mufflers [etc.]. |
d. fig. Something that muffles or disguises.
| 1633 D. R[ogers] Treat. Sacram. i. 89 Oh Lord! strip me starke naked, plucke off my mufflers, shame me. 1653 W. Hemings Fatal Contract ii. ii, What man art thou, That hast thy count'nance clouded with thy cloak..? If thy intents deserve a Muffler too, Withdraw, and act them not. 1869 Swinburne Ess. & Stud. (1875) 236 Passages in which the special experience of the writer is thrust forward under the mask and muffler of allegoric rhapsody. |
2. = muffle n.5 a. A boxing-glove.
| 1755 Duncombe in Connoisseur No. 52 ¶9 He..is sturdy enough to encounter Broughton without mufflers. 1827 Sporting Mag. XX. 72 The mufflers were introduced and some capital first-rate sparring was exhibited. 1891 Licensed Victualler's Mirror 30 Jan. 7 (Farmer) There were few, if any, men of about his height and weight who could stand before him with the mufflers. |
b. A glove or ‘mitten’.
| 1824 Meyrick Anc. Armour I. 25 Sleeves..terminating with gloves, manakins, or mufflers, which cover the outsides of the hands and fingers. 1844 Dickens Chimes i. (1845) 11 His chilly hands..poorly defended from the searching cold by threadbare mufflers of grey worsted, with a private apartment only for the thumb, and a common room or tap for the rest of the fingers. 1883 S. W. Beck Gloves 14 The mufflers themselves are very singular. |
c. = muffle n.5 3.
| 1846 Dickens Cricket on Hearth ii. 68 Bedlam broke loose!.. We shall arrive at the strait-waistcoat and the mufflers soon. |
† 3. A jeweller's tool (see quot.). Obs. rare—0.
| 1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. 382/1 A Mufler..is a long square piece of Copper Plate turned direct half round, standing like an Arch. |
4. Something to deaden sound; spec. in a pianoforte, a pad of felt which is inserted between the hammers and the strings by touching a lever; in a steam-engine, a contrivance for rendering noiseless the escape of steam. Also (chiefly U.S.) = silencer 2.
| 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. II. xxix. 287 Stockings were drawn over the oars as mufflers. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., Muffler. 1. (Music.) A soft cushion employed to terminate or soften a note. 1895 in Funk's Stand. Dict. 1896 Cosmopolitan XX. 420/2 The noise of the exhaust is stifled in a muffler. 1897 [see back-firing vbl. n. 2]. 1915 [see chug v.]. 1931 Economist 28 Feb. 431/2 There is reason to believe that..mufflers, chassis springs,..and accessories are all being manufactured or obtained in France. 1964 M. Banton Policeman in Community iii. 69 An officer had stopped a driver for a faulty muffler (exhaust silencer) and had given him a ticket. 1973 Houston (Texas) Chron. 21 Oct. 12/1 Congress is being pressured to ease the auto emission standard that would lead to the installation of catalytic mufflers on new cars sold after Jan. 1, 1975. 1973 J. M. White Garden Game 136 There was a horrible grinding and clanking under the car..and I did mental arithmetic about the bill for a new muffler. 1974 Index-Jrnl. (Greenwood, S. Carolina) 19 Apr. 5/1 There were also two charges each of muffler violation, disregarding a traffic signal and operating an uninsured vehicle. |
5. dial. a. = mufflin. b. The great crested grebe.
| 1868 Sussex Gloss. in Hurst Horsham (1889), Muffler, a long-tail tit. 1889 Aplin Birds Oxfordsh. 214 (Local Names) Muffler = Great-crested Grebe. |