v.
die or cause to die from lack of air or inability to breathe.
▸have or cause to have difficulty in breathing.
Derivative
- suffocating adj.
- suffocatingly adv.
- suffocation n.
Etymology
C15 (earlier (ME) as suffocation): from L. suffocat-, suffocare ‘stifle’, from sub- ‘below’ + fauces ‘throat’.