asphyxiation
Americannoun
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a lack of oxygen and excess of carbon dioxide in the blood, caused by impaired respiration or insufficient oxygen in the air; suffocation.
The cause of death was severe asphyxiation, apparently from smoke inhalation.
-
the condition of being stifled or suffocated.
Peripheral countries, faced with economic asphyxiation, are being forced to sell access to their fishing banks for far less than they are worth.
Etymology
Origin of asphyxiation
Explanation
This is a word for dying from lack of oxygen. Anyone who chokes to death dies from asphyxiation. This is a medical word for a horrible thing that could happen to anyone. Asphyxiation, also known as suffocation, means to die from lack of oxygen. Gangsters in crime movies are always practicing asphyxiation, usually by holding a pillow over someone's head so they can't breathe. You have to be especially careful with small children and asphyxiation risks — if they play with a plastic bag and put it over their head, they could accidentally asphyxiate themselves.
Vocabulary lists containing asphyxiation
And Then There Were None
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myPerspectives 10.2
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"Modern Automotive Technology," Vocabulary from Section 1
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In this A.I.-powered asphyxiation of the information ecosystem, Spero has positioned himself on social media as a folk hero hauling in the oxygen tanks.
From Slate • Apr. 17, 2026
Epibatidine, found in the Ecuadoran dart frog, causes muscle paralysis and eventual asphyxiation.
From Barron's • Feb. 16, 2026
And we scoop trillions of fish out of the water indiscriminately in large nets who are left to die slowly by asphyxiation.
From Salon • Oct. 19, 2024
David Hunter's wife Janice, 74, died of asphyxiation in December 2021 at their home near Paphos, Cyprus.
From BBC • Apr. 20, 2023
Nsia’s breath was labored; I feared she suffered from some asphyxiation, and went to tend to her; all her attention being fixed on the object behind me.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
