Smother
Part of speech: noun
Definition: That which smothers or appears to smother, in any sense. The state of being stifled; suppression. The act of smothering a kick (see above).
Part of speech: verb
Definition: To suffocate; stifle; obstruct, more or less completely, the respiration of. To extinguish or deaden, as fire, by covering, overlaying, or otherwise excluding the air: as, to smother a fire with ashes. To reduce to a low degree of vigor or activity; suppress or do away with; extinguish; stifle; cover up; conceal; hide: as, the committee's report was smothered. In cookery: to cook in a close dish: as, beefsteak smothered with onions. To daub or smear. To be suffocated. To breathe with great difficulty by reason of smoke, dust, close covering or wrapping, or the like. Of a fire: to burn very slowly for want of air; smolder. Figuratively: to perish, grow feeble, or decline, by suppression or concealment; be stifled; be suppressed or concealed. To get in the way of a kick of the ball, preventing it going very far. When a player is kicking the ball, an opponent who is close enough will reach out with his hands and arms to get over the top of it, so the ball hits his hands after leaving the kicker's boot, dribbling away.
Example sentence: Americans want and deserve a broad array of health insurance choices so they can identify those that best fit their own individual or family needs. These choices expand when we allow free enterprise to foster innovation, not smother it with taxes and one-size fits all ideology.
Muddle
Part of speech: noun
Definition: A mixture; a confusion; a garble.
Part of speech: verb
Definition: To mix together, to mix up; to confuse.To mash slightly for use in a cocktail.
Example sentence: If the United States leads a multinational force into Iraq without United Nations backing, Canada should fight beside its neighbour. We've gone from being a middle power to a muddle power on this one.