What is the meaning of asphyxiating?

verb

• Deprive of oxygen and prevent from breathing.
  • usage: "Othello smothered Desdemona with a pillow"; "The child suffocated herself with a plastic bag that the parents had left on the floor"
  • synonyms: smother, asphyxiate, suffocate
• Impair the respiration of or obstruct the air passage of.
  • usage: "The foul air was slowly suffocating the children"
  • synonyms: suffocate, stifle, asphyxiate, choke
• Be asphyxiated; die from lack of oxygen.
  • usage: "The child suffocated under the pillow"
  • synonyms: suffocate, stifle, asphyxiate

adjective

• Tending to deprive of oxygen.
  • usage: "asphyxiating gasses"