suffocate
To suffer, or cause someone to suffer, from severely reduced oxygen intake to the body.
Example
“Open the hatch, he is suffocating in the airlock!”
Other meanings
To die due to, or kill someone by means of, insufficient oxygen supply to the body.
“He suffocated his wife by holding a pillow over her head.”
To overwhelm, or be overwhelmed (by a person or issue), as though with oxygen deprivation.
“I'm suffocating under this huge workload.”
Word history
From Latin "suffōcō".
Where this comes from
This definition is adapted from “suffocate” on Wiktionary, by its contributors, published under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page is published under the same licence.