sufflue (suflo)

In her., a clarion. suffocate (suf'ō-kat), v.; pret. and pp. suffo cated, ppr. suffocating. [L. suffocatus, pp. of suffocare (> It. soffogare, soffocare = Pg. suffocar = Sp. sufocar = F. suffoquer ), choke, stifle, Either his [Judas's] grief suffocated him, or his guilt made him hang himself; for the words will signifie either. Stilling fleet , Sermons, L. vi. 2. To impede respiration in; compre so as to prevent respiration. And let not hemp his wind-pipe suffocate . Shak., Hen. V., iii. 6. 45. 3. To stifle; smother; extinguish: as, to suf focate fire or live coals. So intense and ardent was the fire of his mind that it not only was not suffocated beneath the weight of fuel, but penetrated the whole superincumbent ma with its own heat and radiance. Macaulay. =Syn. 1. Stifle , Strangle , etc. See smother . II. in trans. To become choked, stifled, or smothered: as, we are suffocating in this close room.