Link Centre Dictionary

suffocate

suf·fo·cate

UK/ˈsʌfəkeɪt/ US/ˈsʌfəkət/ fairly common

verb

1.

deprive of oxygen and prevent from breathing

  • “Othello smothered Desdemona with a pillow”
  • “The child suffocated herself with a plastic bag that the parents had left on the floor”
Synonyms
2.

impair the respiration of or obstruct the air passage of

  • “The foul air was slowly suffocating the children”
Synonyms
3.

become stultified, suppressed, or stifled

  • “He is suffocating--living at home with his aged parents in the small village”
Synonyms
4.

suppress the development, creativity, or imagination of

  • “His job suffocated him”
Synonyms
5.

be asphyxiated; die from lack of oxygen

  • “The child suffocated under the pillow”
Synonyms
6.

feel uncomfortable for lack of fresh air

  • “The room was hot and stuffy and we were suffocating”
7.

struggle for breath; have insufficient oxygen intake

  • “he swallowed a fishbone and gagged”
Synonyms

Origin

The adjective is first attested in the 1420s, the verb in 1526; from Middle English suffocat(e) (“deprived of air, suffocated”), borrowed from Latin suffōcātus, the perfect passive participle of Latin suffōcō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from sub- (“under, up to”) + fōx (“throat”, oblique stem in fōc-). Participial usage up until Early Modern English.

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.