Adjacent Words

Suffocate definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SUF'FOCATE, v.t. [L. suffoco; sub and focus, or its root.]
1. To choke or kill by stopping respiration. Respiration may be stopped by the interception of air, as in hanging and strangling, or by the introduction of smoke, dust or mephitic air into the lungs. Men may be suffocated by the halter; or men may be suffocated in smoke or in carbonic acid gas, as in mines and wells.
And let not hemp his windpipe suffocate.
2. To stifle; to destroy; to extinguish; as, to suffocate fire or live coals.
A swelling discontent is apt to suffocate and strangle without passage.
SUF'FOCATE, a. Suffocated.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
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" [syn: smother, asphyxiate, suffocate]
2: impair the respiration of or obstruct the air passage of; "The foul air was slowly suffocating the children" [syn: suffocate, stifle, asphyxiate, choke]
3: become stultified, suppressed, or stifled; "He is suffocating --living at home with his aged parents in the small village" [syn: suffocate, choke]
4: suppress the development, creativity, or imagination of; "His job suffocated him" [syn: suffocate, choke]
5: be asphyxiated; die from lack of oxygen; "The child suffocated under the pillow" [syn: suffocate, stifle, asphyxiate]
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" [syn: gag, choke, strangle, suffocate]

Merriam Webster's

verb (-cated; -cating) Etymology: Middle English, from Latin suffocatus, past participle of suffocare to choke, stifle, from sub- + fauces throat Date: 15th century transitive verb 1. a. (1) to stop the respiration of (as by strangling or asphyxiation) (2) to deprive of oxygen b. to make uncomfortable by want of fresh air 2. to impede or stop the development of intransitive verb 1. to become suffocated: a. (1) to die from being unable to breathe (2) to die from lack of oxygen b. to be uncomfortable through lack of fresh air 2. to become checked in development • suffocation noun • suffocative adjective

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. 1 tr. choke or kill by stopping breathing, esp. by pressure, fumes, etc. 2 tr. (often foll. by by, with) produce a choking or breathless sensation in, esp. by excitement, terror, etc. 3 intr. be or feel suffocated or breathless. Derivatives: suffocating adj. suffocatingly adv. suffocation n. Etymology: L suffocare (as SUB-, fauces throat)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Suffocate Suf"fo*cate, a. [L. suffocatus, p. p. of suffocare to choke; sub under + fauces the throat. Cf. Faucal.] Suffocated; choked. --Shak.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Suffocate Suf"fo*cate, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Suffocated; p. pr. & vb. n. Suffocating.] 1. To choke or kill by stopping respiration; to stifle; to smother. Let not hemp his windpipe suffocate. --Shak. 2. To destroy; to extinguish; as, to suffocate fire.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Suffocate Suf"fo*cate, v. i. To become choked, stifled, or smothered. ``A swelling discontent is apt to suffocate and strangle without passage.'' --collier.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(suffocates, suffocating, suffocated) 1. If someone suffocates or is suffocated, they die because there is no air for them to breathe. He either suffocated, or froze to death... They were suffocated as they slept. VERB: V, be V-ed • suffocation Many of the victims died of suffocation. 2. If you say that you are suffocating or that something is suffocating you, you mean that you feel very uncomfortable because there is not enough fresh air and it is difficult to breathe. That's better. I was suffocating in that cell of a room... The airlessness of the room suffocated her. VERB: V, V n 3. You say that a person or thing is suffocating, or that something is suffocating them, when the situation that they are in does not allow them to act freely or to develop. After a few weeks with her parents, she felt she was suffocating... The governor's proposals would actually cost millions of jobs and suffocate the economy. VERB: V, V n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Stifle, smother, choke, strangle, kill (by stopping respiration). 2. Destroy, extinguish.

Moby Thesaurus

OD, asphyxiate, bake, bar, barricade, be in heat, be killed, blaze, block, block up, blockade, bloom, boil, bolt, bottle up, broil, burke, burn, censor, chock, choke, choke off, clamp down on, close, close off, close tight, close up, combust, constrict, cook, cork, cork up, crack down on, crowd, crush, damp down, debar, dog, drown, extinguish, famish, flame, flame up, flare, flare up, flicker, flush, fry, gag, garrote, gasp, glow, hold down, incandesce, jam, jump on, keep down, keep under, kill, lock, muzzle, obstruct, occlude, pack, pant, parch, pour water on, put down, put out, quash, quell, quench, radiate heat, repress, roast, scald, scorch, seethe, shimmer with heat, shut down on, shut off, shut out, shut tight, silence, simmer, sit down on, sit on, smash, smolder, smother, smothering, smudgy, snuff out, spark, squash, squeeze, squeeze shut, squelch, stamp out, stanch, starve, steam, stew, stifle, stop the breath, stop up, strangle, strangulate, stultify, subdue, suffocating, suppress, sweat, swelter, throttle, toast, trample out, trample underfoot, voice