English Explanatory Dictionary

suffocate

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb
  1. To suffer, or cause someone to suffer, from severely reduced oxygen intake to the body.
  2. To die due to, or kill someone by means of, insufficient oxygen supply to the body.
  3. To overwhelm, or be overwhelmed (by a person or issue), as though with oxygen deprivation.
  4. To destroy; to extinguish.
adj
  1. Suffocated, choked.
  2. Smothered, overwhelmed.

Pronunciation

/ˈsʌfəkeɪt/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-suffocate.wav /ˈsʌfəkət/

Word forms

suffocate suffocates suffocating suffocated more suffocate most suffocate

Etymology

The adjective is first attested in the 1420s, the verb in 1526; from Middle English suffocat(e) (“deprived of air, suffocated”), borrowed from Latin suffōcātus, the perfect passive participle of Latin suffōcō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from sub- (“under, up to”) + fōx (“throat”, oblique stem in fōc-). Participial usage up until Early Modern English.

Synonyms

smother asphyxiate choke stifle drown

Related words

asphyxia

Derived words

smothercate suffocater suffocation suffocative suffocator unsuffocate

Translations

Azerbaijani: boğmaq Belarusian: душы́ць Belarusian: задушы́ць Belarusian: прыдушы́ць Belarusian: удушы́ць Bulgarian: задуша́вам Bulgarian: задуша́ Bulgarian: уду́швам Catalan: ofegar Czech: dusit Czech: udusit Czech: zadusit Danish: kvæle Finnish: tukehduttaa Galician: afogar Galician: esganar German: ersticken Hebrew: חנק Hungarian: megfojt Irish: plúch Lombard: sofegar Lombard: stofegar Polish: dusić Portuguese: sufocar Russian: души́ть Russian: задуши́ть Russian: удуши́ть Spanish: ahogar Swedish: kväva Ottoman Turkish: بوغمق Ukrainian: души́ти Ukrainian: задуши́ти Ukrainian: удуши́ти
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