Etymology
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From Latin suffōcāre , from sub- ( “ under, up to ” ) + fōx ( “ throat ” )
Pronunciation
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( verb ) IPA (key ) : /ˈsʌfəkeɪt/
Audio (Southern England) (file )
( adjective ) IPA (key ) : /ˈsʌfəkət/
suffocate (third-person singular simple present suffocates , present participle suffocating , simple past and past participle suffocated )
( 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!
2020 November 2, Jiu Xiao, “Chinese Communist Party Officials Push Anti-U.S. Propaganda While Sending Families to Live in the U.S.”, in Minghui [1] :It is because of freedom, one netizen replied: Like air, you may not realize its importance, but when suffocating , you would know how precious it is.
( 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.
1599 (date written), William Shakespeare , “The Life of Henry the Fift ”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies [ … ] (First Folio ), London: [ … ] Isaac Iaggard , and Ed[ ward] Blount , published 1623 , →OCLC , [ Act III, scene vi] :Let not hemp his windpipe suffocate .
( ergative , figuratively ) To overwhelm, or be overwhelmed (by a person or issue), as though with oxygen deprivation.
I'm suffocating under this huge workload.
1962 April, “London Airport rail link”, in Modern Railways , page 222 :If the trend to private cars continues, the more quickly will the road traffic suffocate itself, [...].
( transitive ) To destroy ; to extinguish .
to suffocate fire
Synonyms
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Derived terms
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Related terms
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Translations
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(intransitive) to suffer from severely reduced oxygen intake to the body
Belarusian: затыха́цца impf ( zatyxácca ) , зато́хнуцца pf ( zatóxnucca ) , затхну́цца pf ( zatxnúcca )
Bulgarian: задуша́вам се (bg) impf ( zadušávam se ) , задуша́ се pf ( zadušá se ) , задъ́хвам се impf ( zadǎ́hvam se ) , задъ́хам се pf ( zadǎ́ham se )
Catalan: ofegar (ca) (there is sufocar (ca) but it applies only to fires)
Cebuano: lumos
Chinese:
Mandarin: 窒息 (zh) ( zhìxī )
Czech: dusit se (cs) impf , udusit se (cs) pf
Danish: kvæles
Esperanto: sufoki
Faroese: kódna
Finnish: tukehtua (fi)
French: suffoquer (fr)
Galician: abafar (gl) , sufocar , atafegar
Hebrew: נחנק
Higaonon: nalumos
Hungarian: fuldoklik (hu) , fullad (hu)
Icelandic: kafna
Japanese: 窒息する (ja) ( ちっそくする, chissoku suru )
Korean: 질식하다 (ko) ( jilsikhada )
Latin: suffōcor
Lombard: soffegà (lmo) , sofegar , stofegar ( dialectal )
Macedonian: се гуши impf ( se guši ) , се души impf ( se duši )
Norwegian:
Bokmål: kveles
Persian: خفه شدن (fa) ( xafe šodan )
Polish: dusić się (pl) impf , udusić się (pl) pf
Portuguese: sufocar (pt)
Quechua: hiq'ipay
Russian: задыха́ться (ru) impf ( zadyxátʹsja ) , задохну́ться (ru) pf ( zadoxnútʹsja )
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: угуши́вати се impf , угу́шити се pf
Roman: ugušívati se (sh) impf , ugúšiti se (sh) pf
Slovak: dusiť sa impf , udusiť sa impf
Slovene: dušiti se impf , zadušiti se pf
Spanish: sofocar (es)
Swedish: kvävas (sv)
Ukrainian: задиха́тися impf ( zadyxátysja ) , задихну́тися pf ( zadyxnútysja )
Vietnamese: ngạt (vi) , ngạt thở , ngộp , ngộp thở
(intransitive) to die due to insufficient oxygen supply to the body
(transitive) to cause someone to suffer severely reduced oxygen supply to his body
Arabic: خَنَقَ ( ḵanaqa )
Hijazi Arabic: خَنَق ( ḵanag )
Azerbaijani: boğmaq (az)
Belarusian: душы́ць impf ( dušýcʹ ) , задушы́ць pf ( zadušýcʹ ) , прыдушы́ць pf ( prydušýcʹ ) , удушы́ць pf ( udušýcʹ )
Bulgarian: задуша́вам (bg) impf ( zadušávam ) , задуша́ pf ( zadušá ) , уду́швам impf ( udúšvam )
Carpathian Rusyn: подусити ( podusyty )
Cebuano: lumos
Chinese:
Mandarin: 使窒息 (zh) ( shǐ zhìxī )
Czech: dusit (cs) impf , udusit (cs) pf , zadusit pf
Danish: kvæle (da)
Esperanto: sufokigi
Finnish: tukehduttaa (fi)
French: étouffer (fr)
Galician: abafar (gl) , sufocar , atafegar
German: ersticken (de) , würgen (de)
Gothic: 𐌰𐍆𐍈𐌰𐍀𐌾𐌰𐌽 ( afƕapjan )
Hebrew: חנק (he)
Irish: plúch
Japanese: 窒息させる (ja) ( ちっそくさせる, chissoku saseru )
Kabuverdianu: bafa
Korean: 질식시키다 ( jilsiksikida )
Ladino: atabafar
Latin: suffōcō
Lombard: sofegar , stofegar ( dialectal )
Macedonian: задушува impf ( zadušuva ) , задуши pf ( zaduši ) , гуши impf ( guši ) , души impf ( duši )
Polish: dusić (pl) impf , udusić (pl) pf
Portuguese: sufocar (pt)
Russian: души́ть (ru) impf ( dušítʹ ) , задуши́ть (ru) pf ( zadušítʹ ) , удуши́ть (ru) pf ( udušítʹ )
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: угуши́вати impf , угу́шити pf
Roman: ugušívati (sh) impf , ugúšiti (sh) pf
Slovak: dusiť impf , udusiť pf , zadusiť pf , Slovak podusiť
Slovene: dušiti impf , zadušiti se pf
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: póddušyś , zadušyś
Upper Sorbian: podusyć , dodusyć , dusyć
Swedish: kväva (sv)
Ukrainian: души́ти impf ( dušýty ) , задуши́ти pf ( zadušýty ) , удуши́ти pf ( udušýty )
(transitive) to kill someone by depriving him of a sufficient oxygen intake
Azerbaijani: boğmaq (az)
Belarusian: душы́ць impf ( dušýcʹ ) , задушы́ць pf ( zadušýcʹ ) , прыдушы́ць pf ( prydušýcʹ ) , удушы́ць pf ( udušýcʹ )
Bulgarian: задуша́вам (bg) impf ( zadušávam ) , задуша́ pf ( zadušá ) , уду́швам impf ( udúšvam )
Catalan: ofegar (ca)
Czech: dusit (cs) impf , udusit (cs) pf , zadusit pf
Danish: kvæle (da)
Finnish: tukehduttaa (fi)
Galician: afogar (gl) , esganar
German: ersticken (de)
Hebrew: חנק (he)
Hungarian: megfojt (hu)
Irish: plúch
Lombard: sofegar , stofegar ( dialectal )
Ottoman Turkish: بوغمق ( boğmak )
Polish: dusić (pl)
Portuguese: sufocar (pt)
Russian: души́ть (ru) impf ( dušítʹ ) , задуши́ть (ru) pf ( zadušítʹ ) , удуши́ть (ru) pf ( udušítʹ )
Spanish: ahogar (es)
Swedish: kväva (sv)
Ukrainian: души́ти impf ( dušýty ) , задуши́ти pf ( zadušýty ) , удуши́ти pf ( udušýty )
Translations to be checked
Adjective
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suffocate (comparative more suffocate , superlative most suffocate )
( obsolete ) Suffocated; choked.
c. 1602 , William Shakespeare , “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida ”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies [ … ] (First Folio ), London: [ … ] Isaac Iaggard , and Ed[ ward] Blount , published 1623 , →OCLC , [Act I, scene iii]:This chaos , when degree is suffocate , Follows the choking
Further reading
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“suffocate ”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary , Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam , 1913 , →OCLC .
“suffocate ”, in The Century Dictionary [ … ] , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co. , 1911 , →OCLC .
“suffocate ”, in OneLook Dictionary Search .
Anagrams
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