Dampen
Part of speech: verb
Definition: To make damp or moist; to make slightly wet. To depress; to check; to make dull; to lessen. To become damp; to deaden.
Stifle
Part of speech: noun
Definition: A hind knee of various mammals, especially horses.A bone disease of this region.
Part of speech: verb
Definition: To interrupt or cut off.To repress, keep in or hold back.To smother or suffocate.To feel smothered etc.To die of suffocation.
Example sentence: I have seen how leaders rule by intimidation. Leaders who demonize and dehumanize entire groups of people often do so because they have nothing else to offer. And I have seen how places that stifle the voices and dismiss the potential of their citizens are diminished: how they are less vital, less hopeful, less free.