Definition of SUFFOCATE

suffocate

Verb

  • deprive of oxygen and prevent from breathing
    • "The child suffocated herself with a plastic bag that the parents had left on the floor"
  • impair the respiration of or obstruct the air passage of
  • become stultified, suppressed, or stifled
  • suppress the development, creativity, or imagination of
    • "His job suffocated him"
  • be asphyxiated; die from lack of oxygen
    • "The child suffocated under the pillow"
  • feel uncomfortable for lack of fresh air
  • struggle for breath; have insufficient oxygen intake
  • To suffer, or cause someone to suffer, from severely reduced oxygen intake to the body.
  • To die due to, or kill someone by means of, insufficient oxygen supply to the body.
  • To overwhelm, or be overwhelmed (by a person or issue), as though with oxygen deprivation.
  • To destroy; to extinguish.

Adj

  • Suffocated, choked.
  • Smothered, overwhelmed.

Examples

  • He suffocated his wife by holding a pillow over her head.
  • I'm suffocating under this huge workload.
  • Open the hatch, he is suffocating in the airlock!
  • to suffocate fire

Origin / Etymology

The adjective is first attested in the 1420's, 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.

Scrabble Score: 17

suffocate: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
suffocate: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
suffocate: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 19

suffocate: valid Words With Friends Word