| verb | deprive of oxygen and prevent from breathing “Othello smothered Desdemona with a pillow” |
| verb | impair the respiration of or obstruct the air passage of “The foul air was slowly suffocating the children” |
| verb | become stultified, suppressed, or stifled “He is suffocating--living at home with his aged parents in the small village” |
| verb | suppress the development, creativity, or imagination of “His job suffocated him” |
| verb | be asphyxiated; die from lack of oxygen “The child suffocated under the pillow” |
| verb | feel uncomfortable for lack of fresh air “The room was hot and stuffy and we were suffocating” |
| verb | struggle for breath; have insufficient oxygen intake “he swallowed a fishbone and gagged” |
| asphyxiation | noun | the condition of being deprived of oxygen (as by having breathing stopped) |
| asphyxia | noun | a condition in which insufficient or no oxygen and carbon dioxide are exchanged on a ventilatory basis; caused by choking or drowning or electric shock or poison gas |
| suffocation | noun | killing by depriving of oxygen |
| suffocative | adjective | causing difficulty in breathing especially through lack of fresh air and presence of heat |
| choking | noun | a condition caused by blocking the airways to the lungs (as with food or swelling of the larynx) |