stifle
ちょっと前の出来事ですが，オーストラリアプロ野球リーグの試合前に国歌斉唱を少年が行いました。でも歌の途中でしゃっくりが止まらなくなる事態に陥ってしまいましたが，なんとか歌いきり、スタンドからは万雷の拍手が送られました。
Boy sings national anthem at baseball game despite hiccups
Australians all let us ... hiccup.
A young singer from Adelaide has become an internet sensation after performing Advance Australia Fair at a baseball game through a bad case of hiccups.
Ethan Hall, dressed in a smart red vest and black pants, took a deep breath as his name was announced at the Brisbane Bandits and Adelaide Bite game in South Australia on Friday night.
He burst into song, only for each line to be interrupted by a hiccup.
Players and officials on the field appeared to stifle their laughter, and turned around to look at Ethan, then gave him exuberant high-fives for getting through the entire anthem.
Several international sports websites ran the footage of Ethan's performance.
"What a job! Atta kid! Lesser performers would have cut and run, but this first-grader stuck it out," the CBS Sports report said.
Website Deadspin captioned the video: "We salute you, young sir".
stifleは「〈人の〉息を止める，〈人を〉窒息させる 」という語義を真っ先に浮かべますが，ここは目的語にlaughterがきていますので，この意味ではありません。実はstifleには「あくび，げっぷ，涙，感情などの生理現象から，うわさ，抗議などの社会的な動きを抑える」という意味があるのです。以上，先生からの受け売りでありました。（Chris）
