as in strangled
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 asphyxiated
The petition, which was granted by a federal judge, cites reports alleging that guards at the facility choked and asphyxiated Campos.
—
Laura Romero, ABC News, 27 Jan. 2026
The vocals mutate like asphyxiated Wingdings and aborted thoughts.
—Kieran Press-Reynolds, Pitchfork, 17 Dec. 2025
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
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
Laura Romero, ABC News, 27 Jan. 2026
The vocals mutate like asphyxiated Wingdings and aborted thoughts.
—Kieran Press-Reynolds, Pitchfork, 17 Dec. 2025
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
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for asphyxiated
Verb
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According to court records, Trotter stabbed and strangled Langford on June 16, 1986, at her store in Palmetto near the southern edge of Tampa Bay.—
David Fischer,
Sun Sentinel,
24 Feb. 2026
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She had been dragged down an alley to a secluded area near an apartment building and behind a fence, where she was raped and strangled, according to authorities.—
Maria Aguilar Prieto,
CNN Money,
21 Feb. 2026
Verb
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On a list of deaths maintained by the collective, the first entry is a man from Iraq who drowned while trying to cross, leaving behind a two-year-old daughter.—
Elizabeth Flock,
New Yorker,
23 Feb. 2026
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Hance has claimed other lives as well, including Mary Kelley, 68, who drowned there in 2022.—
Owen Clarke,
Outside,
23 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Asphyxiated.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/asphyxiated. Accessed 28 Feb. 2026.
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