suffocation

American  

[suhf-uh-kay-shuhn] / ˌsʌf əˈkeɪ ʃən /

noun

• suffocations
  plural

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.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• suffocations
  plural

Etymology

Origin of suffocation

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

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

suffocation suffocations

When hypergolic propellants burn, they release highly carcinogenic toxins and can cause suffocation and mutate a person’s DNA.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 2026

"They did not drown," he said, indicating that the two most likely died from "suffocation, as unfortunately often happens".

From Barron's ● May 3, 2026

He adds that audiences also recognised the mood of a country on the cusp of economic liberalisation, when a government job could represent both security and suffocation.

From BBC ● Feb. 13, 2026

Autopsy reports indicate that a number of those killed in these apartment collapses during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake and the 1994 Northridge earthquake died from suffocation.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 21, 2025

Some minutes later I was overwhelmed by a disturbingly familiar feeling of suffocation, and I realized that my oxygen had once again run out.

From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer

Accidental suffocations and strangulations aren't necessarily happening more often, some experts say; rather, fatality review teams have become better at identifying causes of death.

From Salon ● Sep. 11, 2023

County’s safe sleep campaign that launched in 2012, the number of infant suffocations dropped from 70 in 2011 to 34 in 2014.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2023

He kept the chains moving, always more willing to run for four yards than to force a throw, as Bama’s defense performed its typical suffocations.

From Slate ● Dec. 8, 2020

And the data, Locker said, has failed to show that bumper pads cause suffocations.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 23, 2019

At Paris, it was impossible to be mistaken with respect to the primary cause of the frequent suffocations which he experienced.

From Biographies of Distinguished Scientific Men by Robert Grant