suffocation

[suhf-uh-key-shuhn]

noun

1. the act of killing by preventing air from getting to the blood through the lungs or gills; strangulation.

   A crushing neck injury resulted in the child’s suffocation.

2. difficulty breathing or inability to breathe, or any act that causes this.

   One protestor endured temporary suffocation from tear gas.

3. the act of making someone uncomfortable, or the fact of becoming uncomfortable, through lack of fresh air.

   Every noon, the market was crowded; but on Sundays, it was crowded to the point of suffocation.

4. the act or practice of thwarting someone’s self-expression, freedom, independence, etc..

   Under the military regime there was so much suffocation of the media—they even burned down news offices.

Word History and Origins

Origin of suffocation¹

First recorded in 1570–80; from Latin suffōcātiōn-, stem of suffōcātiō, “a choking, stifling”; suffocate ( def. ), -ion ( def. )

Example Sentences

That they’re the only black principals brings something new to the story, and alliance, and something extraneous to the message of Hedda’s social suffocation and the motive for her misdeeds.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

“Cut them off, and you don’t get an energy shock — you get a slow-motion suffocation of industrial capacity.”

Read more on MarketWatch

They died from apparent suffocation and their wrists had been bound with zip ties, authorities said, according to the BBC's US partner CBS News.

Read more on BBC

At least 23 of them had to be treated for suffocation, civic authorities have said.

Read more on BBC

However, Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis earlier said it had received the bodies of 10 people who were killed due to "suffocation" after an aid site was closed by the GHF's US private security contractors.

Read more on BBC