Brazil is the largest coffee producer in the world. Each year Brazil exports more than 44 million bags of coffee. Vietnam follows at exporting over 27 million bags each year.
SUFFOCATE
gag, choke, strangle, suffocate
(verb) struggle for breath; have insufficient oxygen intake; “he swallowed a fishbone and gagged”
suffocate
(verb) feel uncomfortable for lack of fresh air; “The room was hot and stuffy and we were suffocating”
suffocate, stifle, asphyxiate
(verb) be asphyxiated; die from lack of oxygen; “The child suffocated under the pillow”
suffocate, choke
(verb) suppress the development, creativity, or imagination of; “His job suffocated him”
suffocate, choke
(verb) become stultified, suppressed, or stifled; “He is suffocating--living at home with his aged parents in the small village”
suffocate, stifle, asphyxiate, choke
(verb) impair the respiration of or obstruct the air passage of; “The foul air was slowly suffocating the children”
smother, asphyxiate, suffocate
(verb) deprive of oxygen and prevent from breathing; “Othello smothered Desdemona with a pillow”; “The child suffocated herself with a plastic bag that the parents had left on the floor”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Verb
suffocate (third-person singular simple present suffocates, present participle suffocating, simple past and past participle suffocated)
(ergative) To suffer, or cause someone to suffer, from severely reduced oxygen intake to the body.
(ergative) To die due to, or kill someone by means of, insufficient oxygen supply to the body.
(ergative, figuratively) To overwhelm, or be overwhelmed (by a person or issue), as though with oxygen deprivation.
(transitive) To destroy; to extinguish.
Synonyms
• (To suffer from reduced oxygen): asphyxiate, choke
• (To die from insufficient oxygen): stifle, choke
• (To be overwhelmed): drown
• (To reduce oxygen supply): asphyxiate, choke, smother
• (To kill by deprivation of oxygen): asphyxiate, choke, stifle
• (To make weary with contact): smother
Adjective
suffocate (comparative more suffocate, superlative most suffocate)
(obsolete) Suffocated; choked.
Anagrams
• offuscate
Source: Wiktionary
Suf"fo*cate, a. Etym: [L. suffocatus, p.p. of suffocare to choke; sub under + fauces the throat. Cf. Faucal.]
Definition: Suffocated; choked. Shak.
Suf"fo*cate, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Suffocated; p. pr. & vb. n. Suffocating.]
1. To choke or kill by stopping respiration; to stifle; to smother. Let not hemp his windpipe suffocate. Shak.
2. To destroy; to extinguish; as, to suffocate fire.
Suf"fo*cate, v. i.
Definition: To become choked, stifled, or smothered. "A swelling discontent is apt to suffocate and strangle without passage." collier.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
26 January 2025
NEGLECT
(verb) leave undone or leave out; “How could I miss that typo?”; “The workers on the conveyor belt miss one out of ten”
Coffee Trivia
