suffocating
窒息する
解説 Definition
suffocating は suffocate の現在分詞で、「窒息している」「息ができない状態にしている」という意味を表します。実際に空気が足りない状況だけでなく、暑さや圧迫感が強くて息苦しい様子にも使われます。
Suffocating is the present participle of suffocate, meaning preventing someone from breathing or experiencing a severe lack of air. It can also describe air, heat, a place, or an atmosphere that feels oppressively close, airless, or restrictive.
覚え方のコツ Memory Tip
suffocatingはsuffocateの語末eを落として-ingを付けた形で、発音は /ˈsʌfəkeɪtɪŋ/。「煙が人を窒息させている」という進行形の動作だけでなく、a suffocating room・heatのように「息苦しい、圧迫的な」という形容詞的用法もある。空気を奪う共通像で結び付ける。
Form suffocating by dropping the final silent e of suffocate and adding -ing: suffocate becomes suffocating, pronounced /ˈsʌfəkeɪtɪŋ/. Keep one central image—air being cut off. Smoke may be suffocating people, someone may feel as if they are suffocating on a crowded train, and a hot, airless room may feel suffocating. In the last use, the word behaves like an adjective and describes an oppressive environment rather than literal choking. It can also be figurative, as in suffocating control, where excessive restriction creates the same sense of having no room to breathe.
例文
The smoke was suffocating the people trapped inside.
煙が中に閉じ込められた人々を窒息させていました。
I felt like I was suffocating in the crowded train.
混んだ電車の中で窒息しそうに感じました。
The room was so hot and airless that it felt suffocating.
その部屋はとても暑く空気がこもっていて、息苦しく感じました。
suffocating の類義語・関連語
suffocating の語源・成り立ち Etymology
ラテン語のsuffocareが語源で、接頭辞sub-（下に）とfauces（のど）が結びついています。「のどの下から息を奪う」ことが原義で、物理的な窒息から閉鎖的な空間がもたらす「息苦しさ」へと意味が広がりました。同語根にsuffocation（窒息）があります。
Suffocating is formed from suffocate by dropping the final silent e and adding -ing. Suffocate comes from Latin suffocare, “to choke” or “strangle,” traditionally analyzed in connection with sub-, “under” or “from below,” and fauces, “throat” or “jaws.” It entered English through forms influenced by French and Latin. The original physical sense concerns stopping breath or depriving someone of air. English later extended the word to oppressive heat, crowded rooms, restrictive control, and other conditions that figuratively feel airless.
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