1. [v]  struggle for breath; have insufficient oxygen intake; "he swallowed a fishbone and gagged"
2. [v]  feel uncomfortable for lack of fresh air; "The room was hot and stuffy and we were suffocating"
3. [v]  be asphyxiated; die from lack of oxygen; "The child suffocated under the pillow"
4. [v]  suppress the development, creativity, or imagination of; "His job suffocated him"
5. [v]  become stultified, suppressed, or stifled; "He is suffocating--living at home with his aged parents in the small village"
6. [v]  impair the respiration of or obstruct the air passage of; "The foul air was slowly suffocating the children"
7. [v]  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"

SUFFOCATE is a 9 letter word that starts with S.

1. \Suf"fo*cate\, a. [L. suffocatus, p. p. of suffocare
   to choke; sub under + fauces the throat. Cf. {Faucal}.]
   Suffocated; choked. --Shak.
   
   

2. \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.
   
   

3. \Suf"fo*cate\, v. i.
   To become choked, stifled, or smothered. ``A swelling
   discontent is apt to suffocate and strangle without
   passage.'' --collier.