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
In February 2023, a 23-month-old child in Oregon who was climbing on the back of the play kitchen asphyxiated after his shirt got caught on one of the hooks.
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Melina Khan, USA Today, 1 Aug. 2025
Cartman then attempts and fails to asphyxiate himself — and Butters — in a car for the rest of the episode.
—Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 24 July 2025
Spota was the working prosecutor on the case of Johnny Pius, a young boy who was found beaten and asphyxiated in his Smithtown, Long Island schoolyard in April 1979.
—Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 28 Mar. 2025
That same year, a 42-year-old man asphyxiated during a donut eating contest.
—Paula Cohen, CBS News, 4 July 2023
See All Example Sentences for asphyxiate
Melina Khan, USA Today, 1 Aug. 2025
Cartman then attempts and fails to asphyxiate himself — and Butters — in a car for the rest of the episode.
—Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 24 July 2025
Spota was the working prosecutor on the case of Johnny Pius, a young boy who was found beaten and asphyxiated in his Smithtown, Long Island schoolyard in April 1979.
—Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 28 Mar. 2025
That same year, a 42-year-old man asphyxiated during a donut eating contest.
—Paula Cohen, CBS News, 4 July 2023
See All Example Sentences for asphyxiate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for asphyxiate
Verb
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The man previously on Florida’s Death Row for beating, stabbing and strangling a La Carreta waitress with a rice cooker — before lighting a blaze to destroy key evidence — should be condemned to die, Miami prosecutors told a jury after detailing the slaying on Wednesday morning.—
Grethel Aguila,
Miami Herald,
5 Nov. 2025
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Their strategy seems to be to strangle the capital and provoke unrest against the military junta.—
Tim Lister,
CNN Money,
2 Nov. 2025
Verb
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When the bodies of the drowned are retrieved, they’re sent to Alexandroupoli to be identified.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 Nov. 2025
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In an effort to save their relationship, Smith drowned her two young sons.—
Lynsey Eidell,
PEOPLE,
2 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Asphyxiate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/asphyxiate. Accessed 10 Nov. 2025.
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