muffle (v.) Look up muffle at Dictionary.com
c.1430, "to cover or wrap (something) to conceal or protect," perhaps from M.Fr. mofler "to stuff," from O.Fr. moufle "thick glove, muff" (cf. O.Fr. enmoufle "wrapped up"); see muff (n.). Meaning "wrap something up to deaden sound" first recorded 1761. Muffler as a kind of scarf is from 1535; as an automobile exhaust system silencer, it is attested from 1895.