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Webster 1913 Edition

Suffocate

Suf′fo-cate

,
Adj.
[L.
suffocatus
, p. p. of
suffocare
to choke;
sub
under +
fauces
the throat. Cf.
Faucal
.]
Suffocated; choked.
Shak.

Suf′fo-cate

,
Verb.
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
.
Shakespeare
2.
To destroy; to extinguish;
as, to
suffocate
fire
.

Suf′fo-cate

,
Verb.
I.
To become choked, stifled, or smothered.
“A swelling discontent is apt to suffocate and strangle without passage.”
collier.

Webster 1828 Edition

Suffocate

SUF'FOCATE

,
Verb.
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

,
Adj.
Suffocated.

Definition 2024

suffocate

suffocate

English

Verb

suffocate ‎(third-person singular simple present suffocates, present participle suffocating, simple past and past participle suffocated)

  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.
    • Shakespeare
      Let 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

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

(intransitive) to suffer from severely reduced oxygen intake to the body
(intransitive) to die due to insufficient oxygen supply to the body
(transitive) to cause someone to suffer severely reduced oxygen supply to his body

Adjective

suffocate ‎(comparative more suffocate, superlative most suffocate)

  1. (obsolete) Suffocated; choked.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)

Latin

Verb

suffōcāte

  1. second-person plural present active imperative of suffōcō

Etymology

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

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