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Suffocate vs Asphyiate - What's the difference?

suffocate | asphyiate |

suffocate

English

Verb

(suffocat)
  • (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!
  • (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.
  • * Shakespeare
    • 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.
  • To destroy; to extinguish.
    • to suffocate fire

    Synonyms

    * (To suffer from reduced oxygen) asphyxiate * (To die from insufficient oxygen) stifle * (To be overwhelmed) drown * (To reduce oxygen supply) asphyxiate, smother * (To kill by deprivation of oxygen) asphyxiate, stifle * (To make weary with contact) smother

    Derived terms

    * suffocation

    Related terms

    * asphyxia

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • (obsolete) Suffocated; choked.
    • (Shakespeare)

    External links

    * * * English ergative verbs ----

    asphyiate

    Not English

    Asphyiate has no English definition. It may be misspelled.