Synonyms/Hypernyms (Ordered by Estimated Frequency) of verb asphyxiate

3 senses of asphyxiate

Sense 1
smother, asphyxiate, 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")
       => kill -- (cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly; "This man killed several people when he tried to rob a bank"; "The farmer killed a pig for the holidays")

Sense 2
suffocate, stifle, asphyxiate, choke -- (impair the respiration of or obstruct the air passage of; "The foul air was slowly suffocating the children")
       => obstruct, obturate, impede, occlude, jam, block, close up -- (block passage through; "obstruct the path")

Sense 3
suffocate, stifle, asphyxiate -- (be asphyxiated; die from lack of oxygen; "The child suffocated under the pillow")
       => die, decease, perish, go, exit, pass away, expire, pass, kick the bucket, cash in one's chips, buy the farm, conk, give-up the ghost, drop dead, pop off, choke, croak, snuff it -- (pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life; "She died from cancer"; "The children perished in the fire"; "The patient went peacefully"; "The old guy kicked the bucket at the age of 102")