A piece of fabric worn around the neck for warmth, or a device that reduces noise from an engine or exhaust.
From 'muffle' (meaning to wrap or cover, from Old French moufle) plus '-er' (meaning a thing that does an action). The word evolved to mean both a garment and a silencing device by the 19th century.
Car mufflers work by routing hot exhaust through chambers that cancel out sound waves through destructive interference—the same principle noise-canceling headphones use, but car mufflers have been doing it since engines were invented!
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.