Used in a Sentence

suffocate

How to use suffocate in a sentence. Example sentences and definitions for suffocate.

Editorial note

SF better go high-rise or they will suffocate their economy.

Examples14
Definitions7
Parts of speech1

Quick take

deprive of oxygen and prevent from breathing; "Othello smothered Desdemona with a pillow"; "The child suffocated herself with a plastic bag that the parents had left on the floor"

Meaning at a glance

The clearest senses and uses of suffocate gathered in one view.

verb

deprive of oxygen and prevent from breathing; "Othello smothered Desdemona with a pillow"; "The child suffocated herself with a plastic bag that the parents had left on the floor"

verb

impair the respiration of or obstruct the air passage of; "The foul air was slowly suffocating the children"

verb

become stultified, suppressed, or stifled; "He is suffocating--living at home with his aged parents in the small village"

Definitions

Core meanings and parts of speech for suffocate.

verb

deprive of oxygen and prevent from breathing; "Othello smothered Desdemona with a pillow"; "The child suffocated herself with a plastic bag that the parents had left on the floor"

verb

impair the respiration of or obstruct the air passage of; "The foul air was slowly suffocating the children"

verb

become stultified, suppressed, or stifled; "He is suffocating--living at home with his aged parents in the small village"

verb

suppress the development, creativity, or imagination of; "His job suffocated him"

verb

be asphyxiated; die from lack of oxygen; "The child suffocated under the pillow"

verb

feel uncomfortable for lack of fresh air; "The room was hot and stuffy and we were suffocating"

verb

struggle for breath; have insufficient oxygen intake; "he swallowed a fishbone and gagged"

Example sentences

1

SF better go high-rise or they will suffocate their economy.

2

It's also scary that the passengers would suffocate if the life support system failed.

3

Do you repair your weapons first, fix the hull break, or try and suck the oxygen out of the engine room to suffocate the enemies?

4

The 'industry standard' way to do this is to put them all in garbage bags to suffocate them, or to toss them all into a wood chipped en masse[1].

5

If other nations stop responding the way that American corporate lobby groups want them to, they will have to change their tactics or suffocate.

6

Anyone who is not doing this kind of thing, but instead holding their breath, waiting for techies, lawmakers or even King Canute to solve them is going to suffocate.

7

They're now locked into this massive ecosystem which will artificially continue to suffocate them over time.

8

Send your work off to editors and agents as much as possible, show it to your neighbors, plaster it on the walls of the bus stops just dont sit on your work and suffocate it.

9

The design is based on a terribly unergonomic position, it's ugly, and it looks perfectly possibly to suffocate yourself with it.

10

In the earliest days of the London Underground, trains used steam engines, which would collect steam and release it only at specified openings above tunnels, so as to not suffocate everyone.

11

Bollocks to that; we were being allowed to actually live, not to suffocate silently in the cul-de-sac at the end of the driveway in that neighbourhood that's a "nice place to raise kids", and with all the soul of a funeral parlour.

12

Children under 6 months don't have a reflex to carbon dioxide poisoning, and their respiratory systems aren't fully developed, so it is easier for them to suffocate on their own breath pooling in too-soft mattresses or cribs with polyester blankets or bumpers.

13

I think the point is that implicating MtGox in a money laundering scheme and showing the possibility of willful negligence on their part will likely be enough to tie them up in a legal process long enough to suffocate the site in terms of finances/operations.

14

Can you somehow combine their features and synchronize the attack to make them more powerful than they are alone?But if you have a problem enjoying the irony of a suffocation death of your crew because you opened the airlocks to suffocate some intruders and the intruders took out your oxygen system with their last breaths, FTL might be too cruel for you.

Frequently asked questions

Short answers drawn from the clearest meanings and examples for this word.

How do you use suffocate in a sentence?

SF better go high-rise or they will suffocate their economy.

What does suffocate mean?

deprive of oxygen and prevent from breathing; "Othello smothered Desdemona with a pillow"; "The child suffocated herself with a plastic bag that the parents had left on the floor"

What part of speech is suffocate?

suffocate is commonly used as verb.