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Definition of "asphyxia" []

  • A condition in which an extreme decrease in the concentration of oxygen in the body accompanied by an increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide leads to loss of consciousness or death. Asphyxia can be induced by choking, drowning, electric shock, injury, or the inhalation of toxic gases. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "asphyxia" in a sentence
  • "The consumption of these unassuming objects can result in asphyxia, malnutrition, and often death."
  • "Positional asphyxia is the inability to breathe because something compresses the abdomen, which sometimes occurs by being lodged in a tight space."
  • "-- When a person is drowned, strangled, or choked in any way, what is called asphyxia occurs."