suffocate

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. v. To kill or destroy by preventing access of air or oxygen.
2. v. To impair the respiration of; asphyxiate.
3. v. To cause discomfort to by or as if by cutting off the supply of fresh air.
4. v. To suppress the development, imagination, or creativity of; stifle: "The rigid formality of the place suffocated her” ( Thackeray).
5. v. To die from lack of air or oxygen; be asphyxiated.
6. v. To feel discomfort from lack of fresh air.
7. v. To become or feel suppressed; be stifled.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. To kill by preventing the access of air to the blood through the lungs or analogous organs, as gills.
2. To impede respiration in; compress so as to prevent respiration.
3. To stifle; smother; extinguish: as, to suffocate fire or live coals.
4. Synonyms Stifle, Strangle, etc. See smother.
5. To become choked, stifled, or smothered: as, we are suffocating in this close room.
6. Suffocated; choked.

Wiktionary

1. v. ergative To suffer, or cause someone to suffer, from severely reduced oxygen intake to the body.
2. v. ergative To die due to, or kill someone by means of, insufficient oxygen supply to the body.
3. v. ergative, figuratively To overwhelm, or be overwhelmed (by a person or issue), as though with oxygen deprivation.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. adj. Suffocated; choked.
2. v. To choke or kill by stopping respiration; to stifle; to smother.
3. v. To destroy; to extinguish.
4. v. To become choked, stifled, or smothered.

WordNet 3.0

1. v. struggle for breath; have insufficient oxygen intake
2. v. deprive of oxygen and prevent from breathing
3. v. suppress the development, creativity, or imagination of
4. v. impair the respiration of or obstruct the air passage of
5. v. be asphyxiated; die from lack of oxygen
6. v. feel uncomfortable for lack of fresh air
7. v. become stultified, suppressed, or stifled