Standard Lemma guide

suffocation

noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • CMU ARPABET: S AH2 F AH0 K EY1 SH AH0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Asphyxia—a condition in which an extreme decrease in the concentration of oxygen in the body accompanied by an increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide leads to loss of consciousness or death.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Examples

  • A child left unattended may die of suffocation.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A particular act of death or killing by means of asphyxia.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable

Examples

  • The coroner reported three suffocations last week.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

killing by depriving of oxygen

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: asphyxiation

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: killing, kill, putting to death

Narrower terms: choking, strangling, strangulation, throttling

4

noun

Meaning 4

the condition of being deprived of oxygen (as by having breathing stopped)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • asphyxiation is sometimes used as a form of torture

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: asphyxiation

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: hypoxia

History

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English suffocation, suffocacioun, from Middle French suffocation, from Latin suffocatio.

Across languages

Translations

24 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: задушаване (zadušavane) — asphyxia
  • Danish: kvælning — asphyxia
  • Dutch: verstikking — asphyxia
  • Egyptian: i-tm-m-W-nDs:Z2 (jtmw) — asphyxia
  • French: suffocation — asphyxia
  • German: Erstickung — asphyxia
  • Greek: πνιγμονή (pnigmoní) — asphyxia
  • Greek: πνίξιμο (pníximo) — asphyxia
  • Greek: πνιγμοσύνη (pnigmosýni) — asphyxia
  • Hungarian: fulladás — asphyxia
  • Irish: múchadh — asphyxia
  • Irish: plúchadh — asphyxia
  • Italian: soffocazione — asphyxia
  • Latin: suffocatio — asphyxia
  • Norman: suffocâtion — asphyxia
  • Russian: удуше́ние (udušénije) — asphyxia
  • Russian: уду́шье (udúšʹje) — asphyxia
  • Swedish: kvävning — asphyxia
  • Bulgarian: удушване (udušvane) — particular death or killing
  • Greek: πνιγμονή (pnigmoní) — particular death or killing
  • Greek: πνιγμοσύνη (pnigmosýni) — particular death or killing
  • Hungarian: megfojtás — particular death or killing
  • Russian: удуше́ние (udušénije) — particular death or killing
  • Scottish Gaelic: tachdadh — particular death or killing
Real reading context

suffocation in complete knowledge articles

Manoir Richelieu Places & the world · Challenging · 1 uses