See Also: anoderm(medicine)

muffle (iou) and anoderm (medicine)


muffle (iou)



muffle verb trans. LME.
[Perh. aphet. from Old French enmoufler, formed as EN-1 + MUFFLE noun2.]
Wrap, cover up, or enfold, esp. so as to conceal, subdue, or provide protection from the weather. Freq. foll. by up. LME.
S. Leacock I was muffled up, to avoid recognition, in a long overcoat with the collar turned up. G. Swift They came every morning..muffled in the winter in little anoraks and scarves.
b. gen. Cover, conceal, obscure; stifle, suppress. L16.
R. Ellis Mystical emblems, Emblems muffled darkly. D. Macdonald Reviewers had their doubts. But they adopted various strategies for muffling them.
Cover (the eyes) to prevent seeing; cover the eyes of; blindfold. Usu. in pass. M16-E18.
= GAG verb1 2. L16.
Wrap up (a thing) so as to deaden its sound. M18.
b. Limit the audibility of, deaden (a sound). Usu. in pass. M19.
E. L. Doctorow All the sounds of the city were muffled by the snow.
Make (glass) semi-opaque by giving it a crinkled surface; frost. Cf. MUFF verb3. E20.
muffledly adverb in a muffled manner E20.

anoderm (medicine)


anoderm
Lining of the anal canal immediately inferior to the dentate line and extending for about 1.5 cm. To the anal verge; it is devoid of hair and sebaceous and sweat glands, and so is not true skin, although it is squamous epithelium; it is pale, smooth, thin, and delicate, and shiny when stretched; it is especially vulnerable to abrasion (as from rough toilet paper), chemical irritants (soaps), and is well-provided with tactile and nociceptive (pain, itch) endings innervated by the inferior rectal (pudendal) nerve.