From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishasphyxiaas‧phyx‧i‧a /æsˈfɪksiə, əs-/ noun [uncountable] formal MXdeath caused by not being able to breathe SYN suffocation
Examples from the Corpus
asphyxia• She had been beaten and strangled and died from multiple injuries and asphyxia.• The cause of death is asphyxia, and one expects to find the usual signs of this.• In cases of asphyxia the blood pressure rises to such an extent that the tiny blood vessels in the teeth burst.Origin asphyxia (1700-1800) Modern Latin Greek, “stopping the flow of blood”, from a- “not” + sphyzein “to beat regularly, throb” 