Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The act of causing asphyxia; a state of asphyxia.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The act of causing asphyxia; a state of asphyxia.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Death due to lack of oxygen.
  • noun An acute lack of oxygen.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun killing by depriving of oxygen
  • noun the condition of being deprived of oxygen (as by having breathing stopped)

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From New Latin asphyxia, from Ancient Greek ἀσφυξία (asphuksia, "stopping of the pulse"), ἀ- (a-, "not") + σφύξις (sphuksis, "pulse"), from σφύζω (sphuzō, "I throb").

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Examples

  • Desdemona's remarkable, if temporary, recovery from asphyxiation is the most counterfactual thing in the play.

    Winters Tale follow-up elmyra 2009

  • But this period of "useful consciousness" would wane as the effects of brain asphyxiation begin to set in.

    What Happens to Your Body in Space 2007

  • I think I want to read your book (it's not about asphyxiation, is it?)

    Dear John Dave Hingsburger 2007

  • But this period of "useful consciousness" would wane as the effects of brain asphyxiation begin to set in.

    Archive 2007-08-01 2007

  • Colloquially, the act of asphyxiating someone with a liquid or particulate is called “drowning” them, even if they don’t end up in the end result of that state, “drowned”, i. e, dead from asphyxiation from a liquid.

    Matthew Yglesias » No One Expects The Spanish Inquisition 2010

  • Colloquially, the act of asphyxiating someone with a liquid or particulate is called “drowning” them, even if they don’t end up in the end result of that state, “drowned”, i. e, dead from asphyxiation from a liquid.

    Matthew Yglesias » No One Expects The Spanish Inquisition 2010

  • Because it takes so little time, you can stop before the victim actually suffers permanent damage from asphyxiation, which is the whole point: you can inflict terrible pain without leaving any evidence that it ever happened.

    The Volokh Conspiracy » It’s Official: Kinder, Gentler Military Commissions: 2009

  • You can ` t tell the difference whether it ` s intentional smothering or positional asphyxiation, which is what SIDS is.

    CNN Transcript Feb 19, 2008 2008

  • That, in other words, through his strangulation or asphyxiation, which is his technique, he may have gone a little too far when he grabbed her from the couch.

    CNN Transcript Feb 19, 2008 2008

  • Pornthip Rojanasunand, director of Thailand's Central Institute of Forensic Science, said the circumstances suggested that Carradine may have died performing auto-erotic asphyxiation, which is said to result in a form of giddiness and euphoria - similar to alcohol or drug intoxication - that enhances the sexual experience.

    Belfasttelegraph.co.uk - Frontpage RSS Feed 2009

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