Smothered
verb
To suffocate; stifle; obstruct, more or less completely, the respiration of something or someone.
To extinguish or deaden, as fire, by covering, overlaying, or otherwise excluding the air.
“to smother a fire with ashes”
To reduce to a low degree of vigor or activity; suppress or do away with; extinguish
“The committee's report was smothered.”