Hypertext Webster Gateway: "suffocate"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Suffocate \Suf"fo*cate\, a. [L. suffocatus, p. p. of suffocare
to choke; sub under + fauces the throat. Cf. {Faucal}.]
Suffocated; choked. --Shak.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Suffocate \Suf"fo*cate\, v. 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. --Shak.
2. To destroy; to extinguish; as, to suffocate fire.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Suffocate \Suf"fo*cate\, v. i.
To become choked, stifled, or smothered. ``A swelling
discontent is apt to suffocate and strangle without
passage.'' --collier.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
suffocate
v 1: deprive of oxygen and prevent from breathing; "Othello
smothered Desdemona with a pillow"; "The child
suffocated herself with a plastic bag that the parents
had left on the floor" [syn: {smother}, {asphyxiate}]
2: impair the respiration of or obstruct the air passage of;
"The foul air was slowly suffocating the children" [syn: {asphyxiate},
{choke}]
3: suppress the development, creativity, or imagination of;
"His job suffocated him"
4: be asphyxiated; die from lack of oxygen; "The child
suffocated under the pillow"
5: feel uncomfortable for lack of fresh air; "The room was hot
and stuffy and we were suffocating"
6: struggle for breath; have insufficient oxygen intake; "he
swallowed a fishbone and gagged" [syn: {gag}, {choke}]
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