asphyxiation

noun

as·​phyx·​i·​ation as-ˌfik-sē-ˈā-shən 

əs-

: deprivation of oxygen that can result in unconsciousness and often death : an act of asphyxiating a person or animal or a state of asphyxia : suffocation

The autopsy showed that the cause of death was asphyxiation.

Pliny the Elder did not die of falling pumice, but of asphyxiation, as he breathed noxious fumes from the eruption.

—Sidney Perkowitz

Asphyxiation at birth caused permanent impairment of his nerve-signaling system …

—Ann Geracimos

In rats, mice, and rabbits ciguatera poison causes death by asphyxiation.

—Kwang-ming Li

Examples of asphyxiation in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The Medical Examiner would rule that Lori died of asphyxiation. —Chris Young Ritzen, CBS News, 10 May 2025

The Chihuahua Attorney General's Office in Mexico claimed that Sifuentes died of asphyxiation by strangulation, and said her body was discovered on the Periferico Camino Real highway in Juarez on March 22, according to KVIA-TV. —Kimberlee Speakman, People.com, 11 Apr. 2025

His death was ruled a homicide caused by asphyxiation. —Shambhavi Rimal, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 14 Jan. 2025

Severe poisonings can cause paralysis and death from asphyxiation. —Karen Kucher, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 May 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1829, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing asphyxiation

• autoerotic asphyxiation

Rhymes for asphyxiation

• abbreviation
• abomination
• acceleration
• accentuation
• accommodation
• accreditation
• acculturation
• accumulation
• acetylation
• adjudication
• administration
• adulteration