smothering

(verb) envelop completely. Synonyms: smother, surround. Example: "Smother the meat in gravy."

(verb) deprive of oxygen and prevent from breathing. Synonyms: smother, asphyxiate, suffocate. Examples: "Othello smothered desdemona with a pillow." "The child suffocated herself with a plastic bag that the parents had left on the floor."

(verb) conceal or hide. Synonyms: smother, stifle, strangle, muffle, repress. Examples: "Smother a yawn." "Muffle one's anger." "Strangle a yawn."

(verb) form an impenetrable cover over. Synonyms: smother. Example: "The butter cream smothered the cake."

(verb) deprive of the oxygen necessary for combustion. Synonyms: smother, put out. Example: "Smother fires."

(adj) causing difficulty in breathing especially through lack of fresh air and presence of heat. Synonyms: suffocating, suffocative. Examples: "The choking june dust." "The smothering soft voices." "Smothering heat." "The room was suffocating--hot and airless."