Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Asphyxia \As*phyx"i*a\, Asphyxy \As*phyx"y\, n. [NL. asphyxia,
   fr. Gr. ?; 'a priv. + ? to throb, beat.] (Med.)
   Apparent death, or suspended animation; the condition which
   results from interruption of respiration, as in suffocation
   or drowning, or the inhalation of irrespirable gases.

Source : WordNet®

asphyxia
     n : a condition in which insufficient or no oxygen and carbon
         dioxide are exchanged on a ventilatory basis; caused by
         choking or drowning or electric shock or poison gas