Main entry: choke, gag, suffocate, strangle
Definition: struggle for breath; have insufficient oxygen intake
Usage: he swallowed a fishbone and gagged
Main entry: suffocate
Definition: feel uncomfortable for lack of fresh air
Usage: The room was hot and stuffy and we were suffocating
Main entry: stifle, suffocate, asphyxiate
Definition: be asphyxiated; die from lack of oxygen
Usage: The child suffocated under the pillow
Definition: suppress the development, creativity, or imagination of
Usage: His job suffocated him
Definition: become stultified, suppressed, or stifled
Usage: He is suffocating--living at home with his aged parents in the small village
Main entry: choke, stifle, suffocate, asphyxiate
Definition: impair the respiration of or obstruct the air passage of
Usage: The foul air was slowly suffocating the children
Main entry: smother, asphyxiate, suffocate
Definition: deprive of oxygen and prevent from breathing
Usage: Othello smothered Desdemona with a pillow; The child suffocated herself with a plastic bag that the parents had left on the floor