1
as in to strangle
to be or cause to be killed by lack of breathable air
the law requires the owner of a discarded refrigerator to remove its door so that a child won't get trapped inside and suffocate
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of suffocate
One vice president had allowed scores of Taliban prisoners to suffocate to death in shipping containers.
—
Dan Fisher, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 Sep. 2025
Another strange inclusion was a strange robot that looked like a giant white rubber globe that bounced and rolled around the place, engulfing and suffocating anyone who tried to escape or just got out of line.
—New Atlas, 1 Sep. 2025
Black business districts, starved of capital and infrastructure, began to collapse — not because of a lack of innovation or ambition, but because they were suffocated financially.
—Ed Gaskin, Boston Herald, 31 Aug. 2025
But Task also delivers on the action front, just like Mare did, with nail-bitingly tense scenes that slowly ratchet up the tension to suffocating levels.
—Dave Nemetz, TVLine, 28 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for suffocate
Dan Fisher, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 Sep. 2025
Another strange inclusion was a strange robot that looked like a giant white rubber globe that bounced and rolled around the place, engulfing and suffocating anyone who tried to escape or just got out of line.
—New Atlas, 1 Sep. 2025
Black business districts, starved of capital and infrastructure, began to collapse — not because of a lack of innovation or ambition, but because they were suffocated financially.
—Ed Gaskin, Boston Herald, 31 Aug. 2025
But Task also delivers on the action front, just like Mare did, with nail-bitingly tense scenes that slowly ratchet up the tension to suffocating levels.
—Dave Nemetz, TVLine, 28 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for suffocate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for suffocate
Verb
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The company, which also owns the swankier Bloomingdales brand and cosmetics retailer Bluemercury, barely made it out of the pandemic after lockdowns strangled in-store shopping and drove customers ever closer to Amazon and other big-box retailers.—
Allison Morrow,
CNN Money,
3 Sep. 2025
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The women were strangled and rendered unconscious during the attack.—
Ryan Murphy,
IndyStar,
3 Sep. 2025
Verb
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British filmmaker Stephen Woolley (Carol, The Crying Game) has warned that tariffs, if imposed, could choke an already fragile indie sector.—
Scott Roxborough,
HollywoodReporter,
4 Sep. 2025
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He is accused of hitting his roommate more than two dozen times in the head and choking him for several seconds, according to the criminal complaint.—
John Diedrich,
jsonline.com,
4 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Then, early in the morning of February 18, Chernyak began having seizures and vomiting in his bunk bed.—
Isabelle Chapman,
CNN Money,
8 Sep. 2025
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The first crazy thing that happens to the movie Smurls is when a kitchen chandelier almost falls on them, though the most visceral is when oldest sister Dawn Smurl (Beau Gadsdon) suddenly vomits up pieces of glass, leaving the sink and her face a bloody mess.—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
5 Sep. 2025
Verb
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After a man drowned off a popular Anna Maria Island beach over the Labor Day weekend, city officials are speeding up plans to ban swimming in the area.—
Ryan Ballogg,
Miami Herald,
6 Sep. 2025
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On Wednesday, as one of Jeffrey Epstein’s victims spoke outside the Capitol, pleading for government candor, fighter jets roared overhead, briefly drowning her out.—
Michelle Goldberg,
Mercury News,
6 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Bernie Sanders was smothered and locked out by the corporate Democrats and media.—
Kim Gordon,
Rolling Stone,
3 Sep. 2025
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The service is graceful and nimble, too; diners are taken care of without being smothered, while tablecloths are meticulously ironed out (right in front of guests) when tables turn.—
Katie Chang,
Forbes.com,
31 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Suffocate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/suffocate. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.
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