as in strangling
to cause (someone) to stop breathing and often to become unconscious and die
The murder victim was asphyxiated.
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for asphyxiating
Verb
-
He had been arrested for allegedly strangling his then-girlfriend, Johnny Faye Cartwright, in 2020.—
J. Kim Murphy,
Variety,
4 Jan. 2025 -
His trouble with the law began in 2020, when he was arrested for allegedly strangling his girlfriend at an Oregon home.—
Julia Moore,
People.com,
3 Jan. 2025
Verb
-
The younger of the two, Bella, is unscathed; her sister had jumped into a pool to rescue her and ended up drowning herself.—
Stephanie Sengwe,
People.com,
10 Apr. 2025
-
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner released its official report on Carter's death on April 18, 2023, attributing his cause of death to drowning after inhaling difluoroethane and taking alprazolam, the generic form of brand-name Xanax.—
Johnny Dodd,
People.com,
9 Apr. 2025
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Cite this Entry
“Asphyxiating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/asphyxiating. Accessed 2 May. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share