put down by force or intimidation; "The government quashes any attempt of an uprising"; "China keeps down her dissidents very efficiently"; "The rich landowners subjugated the peasants working the land"
impede or hinder the natural development or self-expression of
suppress in order to conceal or hide; "smother a yawn"; "muffle one's anger"; "strangle a laugh"; "repress a cry of fear"
put out of one's consciousness
block the action of; "the process of repressing gene transcription";