Definition of suffocate

• 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"
• impair the respiration of or obstruct the air passage of; "The foul air was slowly suffocating the children"
• become stultified, suppressed, or stifled; "He is suffocating--living at home with his aged parents in the small village"