How to Use suffocate in a Sentence

suffocate

verb

• The poor dog could suffocate in the car on a hot day like this.
• Don't put your head in a plastic bag—you could suffocate.
• If the tube becomes plugged, the child could suffocate and die.
  — Christopher Hartnick, STAT, 6 Apr. 2018
• The girl, 8, is said to have suffocated to death in her own bed.
  — Megan Friedman, Good Housekeeping, 29 Feb. 2016
• For the record: Maze’s plan is to let her soul slowly suffocate and die.
  — Sara Netzley, EW.com, 28 May 2021
• The 75-year-old Smith was found bound, gagged and suffocated to death on her bed.
  — Tim Prudente, baltimoresun.com, 20 June 2018
• Too much of one, and the business will race off a cliff, and too much of the other, and the business will suffocate.
  — George Deeb, Forbes, 3 June 2021
• Which means the Fed exists to suffocate the message of the market.
  — John Tamny, Forbes.com, 6 July 2025
• There was no outlet for the fire and smoke which suffocated the guests.
  — Gabrielle Rockson, People.com, 30 Apr. 2025
• Some had been suffocated, shot in the head or dumped with their hands still tied.
  — Matthieu Aikins Bryan Denton, New York Times, 22 May 2024
• Off the bench, Williams played suffocating defense at the top of USC’s press.
  — Thuc Nhi Nguyen, Los Angeles Times, 25 Feb. 2024
• Smoke - and then flames - filled the car, suffocating Awan and burning him from his feet up.
  — The Washington Post, oregonlive, 23 Oct. 2019
• Mulch too close or over the crown can help diseases take hold or slowly suffocate the plant.
  — Megan Hughes, Better Homes & Gardens, 18 June 2020
• While the offense can grow stagnant at times, the defense is a suffocating one that is among the best in the Big Ten.
  — Chad Graff, Twin Cities, 8 Jan. 2017
• Police say Bell suffocated the 75-year-old on Friday and then placed her body in the trunk of her own car.
  — CBS News, 17 July 2019
• Most are shot, others are stabbed, and a few are run over, suffocated or beat to death.
  — Megan Cassidy, azcentral, 27 Mar. 2018
• Heaps of fish flapped upon the exposed bed, suffocating in the sun.
  — Ferris Jabr, Smithsonian, 8 Jan. 2018
• The effect is suffocating, as if the walls are closing in.
  — Angelica Aboulhosn, Smithsonian Magazine, 14 Aug. 2023
• From there, the Wolverines used their suffocating defense to close the game.
  — Tony Garcia, Detroit Free Press, 24 Feb. 2023
• Anyone there for the genre, for the action, would just be suffocating.
  — David Sims, The Atlantic, 3 July 2019
• Those blooms rob the water of oxygen and can suffocate and harm aquatic life.
  — Sarah Bowman, The Indianapolis Star, 9 Sep. 2020
• As my daughter rolls me behind the couch, the space bears down, threatening to suffocate and crush me.
  — Washington Post, 18 Nov. 2019
• The white walls of my cocoon closed around me and began suffocating me.
  — Vann R. Newkirk Ii, The Atlantic, 14 Mar. 2018
• Oh, and the nation of Canada is trying to suffocate us.
  — Once Again, Vulture, 15 June 2023
• In the Kings’ loss to Nashville, they were suffocated at even strength and had their four-game winning streak snapped.
  — Andrew Knoll, Orange County Register, 24 Feb. 2024
• The man began to throw up and suffocate, according to the report.
  — Miguel Torres, The Arizona Republic, 14 June 2024
• Covering their gills could suffocate them, and heavy metals in sediment could put them at high risk for toxic metal buildup.
  — NPR, 7 May 2026
• Reaves, who has been the victim of this defense many times before, knows all too well how the Thunder tend to stifle and suffocate.
  — Sam Amick, New York Times, 6 May 2026
• Mulch should support plant health—not suffocate it.
  — Olivia McIntosh, Martha Stewart, 2 May 2026
• Constantly soggy soil suffocates roots and invites rot — the plant equivalent of trench foot.
  — Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Kansas City Star, 30 Apr. 2026