1. An excessive fear of smothering or choking, especially during sleep: As a very young mother and suffering from pnigeraphobia, Barbara was frightened that her first baby would suffocate during the night, so she didn't let her baby slumber with a blanket, but in a very small blanket bag which didn't go over her head.
2. A pathologic fear of being smothered: Marie certainly didn't have pnigeraphobia because she let her cat sleep in her bed with her, and it slept right on her chest and sometimes across her neck!