suffocate

[suhf-uh-keyt]

verb (used with object)

suffocated, suffocating 

1. to kill by preventing the access of air to the blood through the lungs or analogous organs, as gills; strangle.

2. to impede the respiration of.

3. to discomfort by a lack of fresh or cool air.

4. to overcome or extinguish; suppress.

verb (used without object)

suffocated, suffocating 

1. to become suffocated; stifle; smother.

2. to be uncomfortable due to a lack of fresh or cool air.

suffocate

/ ˈsʌfəˌkeɪt /

verb

1. to kill or be killed by the deprivation of oxygen, as by obstruction of the air passage or inhalation of noxious gases

2. to block the air passages or have the air passages blocked

3. to feel or cause to feel discomfort from heat and lack of air

Other Word Forms

• suffocatingly adverb
• suffocation noun
• suffocative adjective
• unsuffocated adjective
• unsuffocative adjective
• suffocating adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of suffocate¹

First recorded in 1520–30; from Latin suffōcātus (past participle of suffōcāre “to choke, stifle”), equivalent to suf- suf- + -fōc- (combining form of fauc-, stem of faucēs “throat”) + -ātus -ate ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of suffocate¹

C16: from Latin suffōcāre, from _sub- + faucēs throat

Example Sentences

The debt load has nearly suffocated the company, making it a vulnerable target.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Thirty-three of this year's executions have been carried out by lethal injection, two by firing squad and four by nitrogen hypoxia, which involves pumping nitrogen gas into a face mask, causing the prisoner to suffocate.

Read more on Barron's

CAI sends customized updates to each team—63 of the 87 pages are new each week—to account for everything from a slumping kicker to a suffocating opposing defense.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Like the boy she watched suffocate because the hospital didn’t have enough ventilators.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Exhausted and exasperated, Rune couldn’t believe that he was being made to play in such suffocating conditions.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• asphyxiate 
• drown 
• smother 
• stifle 
• strangle