ASPHYXIATE Synonyms: 22 Similar and Opposite Words

asphyxiate

verb

Definition of asphyxiate

as in to strangle

to cause (someone) to stop breathing and often to become unconscious and die The murder victim was asphyxiated.

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of asphyxiate The 10-mile-high plume asphyxiated around 200,000 residents but also preserved the city in remarkable detail. — Hanna Wickes, Charlotte Observer, 3 June 2026 The fine ash preserved the site but asphyxiated 200,000 residents. — Hanna Wickes, Sacbee.com, 3 June 2026 The burns cause swelling, the airways close, and the victim can asphyxiate. — Christopher Bonanos, Curbed, 22 May 2026 Tarrant County prosecutors said Busby and an accomplice abducted Crane, 77, from a grocery store parking lot, robbed her and then asphyxiated her with duct tape, wrapping 14 layers around her face. — Erik Ortiz, NBC news, 20 May 2026 See All Example Sentences for asphyxiate

Recent Examples of Synonyms for asphyxiate

Verb

Clancy, a 36-year-old former labor and delivery nurse, doesn’t deny strangling her children in the basement of their home in 2023 before trying to take her own life.

— ABC News, ABC News, 4 Sep. 2026
Prosecutors tried to convict Massachusetts mom Lindsay Clancy of first-degree murder and send her to prison for life for strangling her three young children.

— Rebecca Cohen, NBC news, 4 Sep. 2026

Definition of strangle

Verb

Deputies riding Sea-Doos on July 18 rescued three swimmers not wearing life jackets who were close to drowning on Petite Lake in unincorporated Lake Villa.

— Charles Selle, Chicago Tribune, 31 Aug. 2026
The turbine room could have filled with water if the emergency shutdown systems failed, potentially drowning anyone inside.

— Jessie Yeung, CNN Money, 31 Aug. 2026