Suffocate

Origin

From Latin suffocatus, past participle of suffocare ("to choke, stifle"), from sub ("under") + faux ("the upper part of the throat, the pharynx").

Full definition of suffocate

Verb

1. (ergative) To suffer, or cause someone to suffer, from severely reduced oxygen intake to the body.Open the hatch, he is suffocating in the airlock!
2. (ergative) To die due to, or kill someone by means of, insufficient oxygen supply to the body.He suffocated his wife by holding a pillow over her head.
• ShakespeareLet not hemp his windpipe suffocate.
3. (ergative, figuratively) To overwhelm, or be overwhelmed (by a person or issue), as though with oxygen deprivation.I'm suffocating under this huge workload.
4. (transitive) To destroy; to extinguish.to suffocate fire

Synonyms

• (To suffer from reduced oxygen) asphyxiate
• (To die from insufficient oxygen) stifle
• (To be overwhelmed) drown
• (To reduce oxygen supply) asphyxiate, smother
• (To kill by deprivation of oxygen) asphyxiate, stifle
• (To make weary with contact) smother

Derived terms

• suffocation

Related terms

• asphyxia

Adjective

1. (obsolete) Suffocated; choked.