smother vs suffocation

smother

noun
  • The act of smothering a kick (see verb section). 

  • Cookware used in such cooking. 

  • Smoldering; slow combustion. 

verb
  • to burn very slowly for want of air; smolder. 

  • To suffocate; stifle; obstruct, more or less completely, the respiration of something or someone. 

  • To reduce to a low degree of vigor or activity; suppress or do away with; extinguish 

  • To cook in a close dish. 

  • To extinguish or deaden, as fire, by covering, overlaying, or otherwise excluding the air. 

  • To get in the way of a kick of the ball, preventing it going very far. When a player is kicking the ball, an opponent who is close enough will reach out with his hands and arms to get over the top of it, so the ball hits his hands after leaving the kicker's boot, dribbling away. 

  • To be suffocated. 

  • to perish, grow feeble, or decline, by suppression or concealment; be stifled; be suppressed or concealed. 

  • To get in the way of a kick of the ball. 

  • To breathe with great difficulty by reason of smoke, dust, close covering or wrapping, or the like. 

  • To prevent the development of an opponent's attack by one's arm positioning. 

  • To daub or smear. 

suffocation

noun
  • A particular act of death or killing by means of asphyxia. 

  • Asphyxia—a condition in which an extreme decrease in the concentration of oxygen in the body accompanied by an increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide leads to loss of consciousness or death. 

  • A child left unattended may die of suffocation. 

How often have the words smother and suffocation occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )