Suffocate
['sʌfəkeɪt] or ['sʌfəket]
Definition
(verb.) feel uncomfortable for lack of fresh air; 'The room was hot and stuffy and we were suffocating'.
(verb.) be asphyxiated; die from lack of oxygen; 'The child suffocated under the pillow'.
(verb.) suppress the development, creativity, or imagination of; 'His job suffocated him'.
(verb.) become stultified, suppressed, or stifled; 'He is suffocating--living at home with his aged parents in the small village'.
(verb.) impair the respiration of or obstruct the air passage of; 'The foul air was slowly suffocating the children'.
Inputed by Cole--From WordNet
Definition
(a.) Suffocated; choked.
(v. t.) To choke or kill by stopping respiration; to stifle; to smother.
(v. t.) To destroy; to extinguish; as, to suffocate fire.
(v. i.) To become choked, stifled, or smothered.
Typist: Weldon
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. a. Stifle, smother, choke, strangle, kill (by stopping respiration).
Editor: Will
Synonyms and Antonyms
[See S]
Typed by Jewel
Definition
v.t. to choke by stopping the breath: to stifle:—pa.p. suff′ocāted.—p.adj. (Shak.) suffocated.—p.adj. Suff′ocāting choking.—adv. Suff′ocātingly.—n. Suffocā′tion act of suffocating: state of being suffocated.—adj. Suff′ocātive tending to suffocate.
Editor: Pierre
Examples
- Maurice, we must make a sally, and get into the clear air beyond, else this smoke will suffocate us, and thus give them the advantage. Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
- I resolved to take a dog and hold him myself; suffocate him a little, and time him; suffocate him some more and then finish him. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- To be suffocated? Charles Dickens. A Tale of Two Cities.
- They suffocated some in mud, and suspended others by the feet, or the head, or the thumbs, kindling fires below them. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- And this is the faithful creature,' exclaimed Mr. Ben Allen, 'whom I had nearly suffocated! Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- Her voice was suffocated with sobs. Mary Shelley. Frankenstein_Or_The Modern Prometheus.
- The house is situated on a dead flat, and seems to be shut in--almost suffocated, to my north-country notions, by trees. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- The wounded who had not strength to move themselves were either suffocated or burned to death. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- Altogether, I had like to have been suffocated. Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- Markest thou the smouldering and suffocating vapour which already eddies in sable folds through the chamber? Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- Roman science was stillborn, into a suffocating atmosphere of vile wealth and military oppression. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Now, if the skeleton up-stairs had taken that opportunity, for instance, of calling out 'Here I am, suffocating in the closet! Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- The sound came like a reproach, a scoff--like the sting of remorse in the soul--I gasped--the veins and muscles of my throat swelled, suffocating me. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- The place was intolerably dirty, and the smell of tobacco smoke perfectly suffocating. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- I saw them'--he stopped as though he were suffocating, and began again--'I saw them walking side by side, last night. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- It suffocates me! Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
Typed by Julie