suffocate
pronunciation
How to pronounce suffocate in British English:
UK [ˈsʌfəkeɪt]
How to pronounce suffocate in American English:
US [ˈsʌfəˌket]
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- Verb:
- deprive of oxygen and prevent from breathing
- impair the respiration of or obstruct the air passage of
- become stultified, suppressed, or stifled
- suppress the development, creativity, or imagination of
- be asphyxiated; die from lack of oxygen
- feel uncomfortable for lack of fresh air
- struggle for breath; have insufficient oxygen intake
Word Origin
- suffocate
- suffocate: [16] To suffocate someone is etymologically to press down their ‘throat’. The word comes from the past participle of Latin suffocāre, a compound verb formed from the prefix sub- ‘under, down’ and faucēs ‘throat’ (source of the English technical term faucal ‘of the throat’ [19]). The origins of faucēs are not known.=> faucal
- suffocate (v.)
- early 15c. (transitive), "deprive of air, choke, kill by preventing access of air to the lungs," also figurative, "stifle, smother, extinguish," from Latin suffocatus, past participle of suffocare "to choke" (see suffocation). Intransitive use, "become choked, stifled, or smothered," is from 1702. Related: Suffocated; suffocating.
Example
- 1. Taxes will suffocate the dwindling population of young workers .
- 2. I could feel myself starting to suffocate .
- 3. Most humans would drown , suffocate , roast or freeze to death .
- 4. Without this vital exchange our cells would quickly die and leave the body to suffocate .
- 5. The republicans propose to strangle government once and for all . Mr obama 's policies suffocate federal programmes slowly .