Died or suffered serious harm from not getting enough oxygen to breathe.
From Greek 'a-' (without) plus 'sphyzein' (to pulse). Greek physicians created this medical term to describe death from lack of pulse caused by suffocation.
When someone is asphyxiated, it's not always from choking—they can suffocate from carbon monoxide (which binds to blood better than oxygen), or even from breathing pure nitrogen that has no oxygen, which is why inert gas accidents are particularly sneaky!
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