- (intransitive) to die due to insufficient oxygen supply to the body
Open the hatch, he is suffocating in the airlock!
suffocate, suffocated, suffocated
- to breathe with great difficulty
He smothered her by pressing his hand over her mouth.
uncountable · smother, smothered, smothered
- to die of suffocation
The heat was stifling the children.
stifle, stifled, stifled
- to be smothered or suffocated
asphyxiate, asphyxiated, asphyxiated
- be unable to breathe because of obstruction of the windpipe
Ever since he choked on a bone, he has refused to eat fish.
choke, choked, choked