ASPHYXIATE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does asphyxiate mean? 

• ASPHYXIATE (verb)
  The verb ASPHYXIATE has 3 senses:

1. deprive of oxygen and prevent from breathing

2. impair the respiration of or obstruct the air passage of

3. be asphyxiated; die from lack of oxygen

  Familiarity information: ASPHYXIATE used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ASPHYXIATE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they asphyxiate    ... he / she / it asphyxiates   
Past simple: asphyxiated   
Past participle: asphyxiated   
-ing form: asphyxiating   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Deprive of oxygen and prevent from breathing

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

asphyxiate; smother; suffocate

Context example:

The child suffocated herself with a plastic bag that the parents had left on the floor

Hypernyms (to "asphyxiate" is one way to...):

kill (cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly)

"Asphyxiate" entails doing...:

cover (provide with a covering or cause to be covered)

Verb group:

asphyxiate; stifle; suffocate (be asphyxiated; die from lack of oxygen)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sentence example:

They want to asphyxiate the prisoners

Derivation:

asphyxia (a condition in which insufficient or no oxygen and carbon dioxide are exchanged on a ventilatory basis; caused by choking or drowning or electric shock or poison gas)

asphyxiation (killing by depriving of oxygen)

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

Sense 2

Meaning:

Impair the respiration of or obstruct the air passage of

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

asphyxiate; choke; stifle; suffocate

Context example:

The foul air was slowly suffocating the children

Hypernyms (to "asphyxiate" is one way to...):

block; close up; impede; jam; obstruct; obturate; occlude (block passage through)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Derivation:

asphyxia (a condition in which insufficient or no oxygen and carbon dioxide are exchanged on a ventilatory basis; caused by choking or drowning or electric shock or poison gas)

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

Sense 3

Meaning:

Be asphyxiated; die from lack of oxygen

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

asphyxiate; stifle; suffocate

Context example:

The child suffocated under the pillow

Hypernyms (to "asphyxiate" is one way to...):

buy the farm; cash in one's chips; choke; conk; croak; decease; die; drop dead; exit; expire; give-up the ghost; go; kick the bucket; pass; pass away; perish; pop off; snuff it (pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life)

Verb group:

asphyxiate; smother; suffocate (deprive of oxygen and prevent from breathing)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "asphyxiate"):

strangle (die from strangulation)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

asphyxia (a condition in which insufficient or no oxygen and carbon dioxide are exchanged on a ventilatory basis; caused by choking or drowning or electric shock or poison gas)

asphyxiation (killing by depriving of oxygen)

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