In medical jurisprudence, want of breath; difficulty in breathing; partial or temporary suspension of resplra-tion; specifically, such difficulty of resplra-tion' resulting from over-oxygeuation of the blood, and in this distinguished from “as-phyxia,” which is a condition resulting from a deficiency of oxygen in the blood due to suffocation or any serious interference with normal respiration. The two terms were formerly (but improperly) used synonymous-iy
Source: Black's Law Dictionary 2nd Ed (1910)
