suffocate

suffocate 主要表示“因缺氧而窒息”，也可引申为“使人感到压抑、难以承受”，还可表示使火焰熄灭。

💡 记忆钩子

把 suffocate 想成“喉咙被堵住，空气进不来”：人会窒息，火也会因没有空气而熄灭；这种“喘不过气”的感觉再引申为被工作、压力或混乱压得透不过气。

📝 学习建议

先掌握“窒息”和“使某人窒息”这两个核心方向，再记住它的比喻义“压力大得让人喘不过气”。
不要把 suffocate 只理解成已经死亡；它既可以表示正在缺氧，也可以表示因缺氧而死亡，具体要看上下文。

📖 中文释义

adj

rare 窒息的；被噎住的

📖 指人或事物像被堵住喉咙、失去空气一样处于窒息状态。这是古旧形容词用法，现代英语中不常见。

obsolete
rare 被压得喘不过气的

📖 引申指某人或某种秩序被混乱、压力等压制得无法正常发展，像缺氧一样难以承受。这也是古旧用法。

obsolete

more suffocate comparative most suffocate superlative

verb

core 窒息；缺氧

📖 指身体因吸入的氧气严重不足而难以呼吸，可能是暂时的窒息状态，也可能继续发展为死亡。这里的核心画面就是“空气进不来，喘不过气”。

💡 常用“人或动物 + suffocate”表示自己因缺氧而窒息，也可用进行时表示正在发生。说明原因时可接 under、in 或 because of 引出的环境和原因；不要把它用于一般的短暂气喘。

ergative

The hikers began to suffocate in the smoke.

徒步者开始在烟雾中窒息。
common 使窒息；因窒息死亡

📖 指某人或某物因没有得到足够氧气而死亡，或指用某种方式使另一个人缺氧死亡。它把“空气被堵住”的画面从受害者的状态扩展到了造成这种结果的动作。

💡 常用“某人 + suffocate + 某人”表示使某人窒息，也可用“某人 + suffocate”表示因缺氧死亡。涉及具体致死行为时语气很严重，不能随意用来表示普通的“让人很难受”。

ergative

The smoke suffocated several passengers before help arrived.

救援到达前，烟雾使几名乘客窒息了。
core 使感到压抑；被压得喘不过气

📖 比喻压力、工作量、问题或某个人太强，使人感到像缺氧一样无法承受。这里没有真的缺少氧气，而是把“喘不过气”的身体感觉用于心理或生活压力。

💡 常用“suffocate under + 压力来源”表示被某事压得喘不过气，也可用“某事 + suffocate + 人”表示使人感到压抑。这个比喻义在日常表达中很有用，但不要把它理解成单纯的“感到有点累”。

ergative figuratively

She felt suffocated by the constant demands of her job.

不断的工作要求让她感到压抑得喘不过气。
common 使熄灭；扑灭

📖 指通过隔绝空气等方式使火焰熄灭。这个意思仍然来自“没有空气就无法继续燃烧”的核心画面。

💡 常用“suffocate + fire/flames”表示使火焰因缺少空气而熄灭，语体通常比 put out 更正式或更具体。它强调的是让火失去空气，不宜泛指扑灭所有类型的火灾。

transitive

Cover the small flame with sand to suffocate it.

用沙子盖住小火苗，让它因缺氧而熄灭。

suffocates present,singular,third-person suffocating participle,present suffocated participle,past suffocated past

📘 英文释义 (WordNet) 共 7 组

struggle for breath; have insufficient oxygen intake

同义词集: gag choke strangle suffocate

he swallowed a fishbone and gagged

上位: hurt, suffer

feel uncomfortable for lack of fresh air

同义词集: suffocate

The room was hot and stuffy and we were suffocating

上位: feel

be asphyxiated; die from lack of oxygen

同义词集: suffocate stifle asphyxiate

The child suffocated under the pillow

上位: buy the farm, cash in one's chips, choke, conk, croak, decease, die, drop dead, exit, expire, give-up the ghost, go, kick the bucket, pass, pass away, perish, pop off, snuff it 下位: strangle

suppress the development, creativity, or imagination of

同义词集: suffocate choke

His job suffocated him

上位: dampen, stifle

become stultified, suppressed, or stifled

同义词集: suffocate choke

He is suffocating--living at home with his aged parents in the small village

上位: become, turn

impair the respiration of or obstruct the air passage of

同义词集: suffocate stifle asphyxiate choke

The foul air was slowly suffocating the children

上位: block, close up, impede, jam, obstruct, obturate, occlude

deprive of oxygen and prevent from breathing;

同义词集: smother asphyxiate suffocate

Othello smothered Desdemona with a pillow

The child suffocated herself with a plastic bag that the parents had left on the floor

上位: kill

🌳 词源

源自拉丁语 suffōcō，含有“堵住喉咙、使空气无法进入”的意思，后来发展出形容词和动词用法。

The adjective is first attested in the 1420s, the verb in 1526; from Middle English suffocat(e) (“deprived of air, suffocated”), borrowed from Latin suffōcātus, the perfect passive participle of Latin suffōcō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from sub- (“under, up to”) + fōx (“throat”, oblique stem in fōc-). Participial usage up until Early Modern English.

🔄 变式

more suffocate compar most suffocate superl suffocated past suffocates present suffocating present

🏷 单词标签 & 词根