Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Suffocate \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.