Link Centre Dictionary

strangle

UK/ˈstɹæŋɡəl/ US/ˈstɹ̝̊ʷæŋɡəl] ~ [ˈstɹ̝̊ʷæŋɡl̩/ fairly common

verb

1.

kill by squeezing the throat of so as to cut off the air

  • “he tried to strangle his opponent”
  • “A man in Boston has been strangling several dozen prostitutes”
Synonyms
2.

conceal or hide

  • “smother a yawn”
  • “muffle one”
  • “;”
Synonyms
3.
4.

prevent the progress or free movement of

  • “He was hampered in his efforts by the bad weather”
  • “the imperialist nation wanted to strangle the free trade between the two small countries”
Synonyms
5.

constrict (someone''s) throat and keep from breathing

Synonyms
6.

struggle for breath; have insufficient oxygen intake

  • “he swallowed a fishbone and gagged”
Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English stranglen, from Old French estrangler, from Latin strangulō, strangulāre, from Ancient Greek στραγγαλόομαι (strangalóomai, “to be strangled”), from στραγγάλη (strangálē, “a halter”); compare στραγγός (strangós, “twisted”) and string. Displaced Middle English wirien, awurien (“to strangle”) (> English worry).

Phrases

  • strangle the parrot
  • strangling angel
  • strangling angel of children
  • strangling fig

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

Entails

Causes

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.