Smothering vs Suffocate - What's the difference?
smothering | suffocate |
The act by which someone or something is smothered.
* 2010 , Harry Hill, Livin' the Dreem: A Year in My Life (page 397)
(ergative) To suffer, or cause someone to suffer, from severely reduced oxygen intake to the body.
(ergative) To die due to, or kill someone by means of, insufficient oxygen supply to the body.
* Shakespeare
(ergative, figuratively) To overwhelm, or be overwhelmed (by a person or issue), as though with oxygen deprivation.
To destroy; to extinguish.
As verbs the difference between smothering and suffocate
is that smothering is while suffocate is (ergative) to suffer, or cause someone to suffer, from severely reduced oxygen intake to the body.As a noun smothering
is the act by which someone or something is smothered.As an adjective suffocate is
(obsolete) suffocated; choked.smothering
English
Verb
(head)Noun
(en noun)- When he came to, he begged me not to tell the hotel management, as his last two attempted smotherings had ended in failure and he was worried about losing his job.
suffocate
English
Verb
(suffocat)- Open the hatch, he is suffocating in the airlock!
- He suffocated his wife by holding a pillow over her head.
- Let not hemp his windpipe suffocate .
- I'm suffocating under this huge workload.
- to suffocate fire