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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Recent Examples of asphyxiate
Teddy is found, bound and asphyxiated, in Cooper’s bedroom, which Aggie cannot bear to enter.
—
Doreen St. Félix, New Yorker, 6 Dec. 2025
She had been asphyxiated and then mutilated after her death.
—Christine Pelisek, PEOPLE, 27 Nov. 2025
Police initially thought Joy had died in an accidental house fire in Bristol Township, Pa., but an autopsy revealed she had been repeatedly stabbed, suffered fractured ribs and was likely asphyxiated, according to the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office.
—Emily Blackwood, People.com, 23 Aug. 2025
In Oregon in February 2023, a 23-month-old child was asphyxiated after his shirt got caught on one of the hooks while climbing and crawling through the opening at the back of the play kitchen where the toy kitchen accessories are held, per the CPSC.
—Chad Murphy, The Enquirer, 5 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for asphyxiate
Doreen St. Félix, New Yorker, 6 Dec. 2025
She had been asphyxiated and then mutilated after her death.
—Christine Pelisek, PEOPLE, 27 Nov. 2025
Police initially thought Joy had died in an accidental house fire in Bristol Township, Pa., but an autopsy revealed she had been repeatedly stabbed, suffered fractured ribs and was likely asphyxiated, according to the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office.
—Emily Blackwood, People.com, 23 Aug. 2025
In Oregon in February 2023, a 23-month-old child was asphyxiated after his shirt got caught on one of the hooks while climbing and crawling through the opening at the back of the play kitchen where the toy kitchen accessories are held, per the CPSC.
—Chad Murphy, The Enquirer, 5 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for asphyxiate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for asphyxiate
Verb
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Police responded to the halfway house after Grayson missed multiple appointments later in the day and found that she had been strangled.—
Livi Stanford,
Hartford Courant,
8 Mar. 2026
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She had been strangled with a wire, which was still around her neck.—
Audrey Abrahams,
NBC news,
8 Mar. 2026
Verb
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George Seda, the police boss in Nairobi, said Saturday that six people drowned and two others were electrocuted, warning that the death toll may rise as search and rescue operations continue.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
7 Mar. 2026
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When Christina drowns herself for a second time, Baron Frankenstein is confronted by the unpredictability of stitching together dead flesh—his female creation is capable of reckoning with her past suffering.—
Rory Doherty,
Time,
7 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Asphyxiate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/asphyxiate. Accessed 13 Mar. 2026.
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