1
as in to choke
to be or cause to be killed by lack of breathable air the gull got tangled in a piece of fishing line on the beach and was strangled

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2
as in to throttle
to keep (someone) from breathing by exerting pressure on the windpipe the boy complained that he was being strangled by his tie

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3

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of strangle Several hours later, she was found dead in her own home – bludgeoned and strangled. Erin Moriarty, CBS News, 21 Dec. 2024 Economic Relief: Years of strife in Syria ruined the country’s energy sector, battered its currency and strangled growth. Carlotta Gall, New York Times, 1 Jan. 2025 Syria’s universities, meanwhile, withered as sanctions imposed on the Assad regime strangled the economy. Byrichard Stone, science.org, 23 Dec. 2024 Prosecutors argued Spencer often would strategically give or withhold drugs from his victims, deprive them of sleep and food and threaten them with firearms or extreme physical violence, such as strangling them. Chris Ramirez, Journal Sentinel, 18 Dec. 2024 See all Example Sentences for strangle 
Recent Examples of Synonyms for strangle
Verb
  • An artists’ livelihood lost to flames That same pungent, chemical smell had choked the air just a few miles away as the fire kept racing before dawn on January 8 through west Altadena, sending embers zipping through the air like bullets.
    Elizabeth Wolfe, CNN, 17 Jan. 2025
  • Brooks, a 43-year-old Black man, was punched, kicked, choked and manhandled in the Dec. 9 beating at Marcy Correctional Facility north of Utica.
    Joseph Wilkinson, New York Daily News, 16 Jan. 2025
Verb
  • However, many governments still subsidize the harmful status quo and actively stifle innovation.
    Rose Marcario, TIME, 16 Jan. 2025
  • The Huskies also kept up their stifling defensive effort through the third quarter, though UConn’s less-experienced lineups struggled to limit St. John’s down the stretch.
    Emily Adams, Hartford Courant, 16 Jan. 2025
Verb
  • Authorities say that the night before, New Year’s Eve 2020, Janks, then 36, drugged Merriman with pain and sleeping pills before fatally suffocating him.
    Liam Quinn, People.com, 12 Jan. 2025
  • Even with Heat star Jimmy Butler serving the second game of his seven-game suspension, the Heat’s defense was suffocating through three quarters.
    Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 7 Jan. 2025
Verb
  • Demographers have found little, if any, evidence that EWIs harm or suppress the employment or wages of local people.
    Gordon G. Chang, Newsweek, 26 Jan. 2025
  • To keep shooting, Pasha must suppress his rage and only dares to carry out small protests — such as playing the U.S. national anthem sung by Lady Gaga — but those are enough to earn him suspicion.
    Carlos Aguilar, Variety, 25 Jan. 2025
Verb
  • So not counting out the Rams, but Philadelphia just has so many ways to beat you, and that Eagles defense is smothering.
    Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times, 16 Jan. 2025
  • But can that smothering play hold up against playoff Patrick Mahomes (who had his best performance of the season in Week 17)?
    Hannah Vanbiber, The Athletic, 14 Jan. 2025
Verb
  • Some nicotine from pouches will inevitably be ingested into the stomach when people swallow their saliva.
    Lauren J. Young, Scientific American, 24 Jan. 2025
  • The Bills swallowed $31 million in dead salary-cap space to be out of the Diggs business.
    Tim Graham, The Athletic, 24 Jan. 2025
Verb
  • Now that his presidency has ended and the conservative right is back at the helm, what does that mean for student loan borrowers that are drowning in debt? Dr. Sonia Lewis, founder of student loan debt consultancy The Student Loan Doctor, says that now is the time to get informed…and quickly.
    Jasmine Browley, Essence, 17 Jan. 2025
  • But the halfway treatment in this case feels like keeping the bath water and drowning the baby.
    Jesse Green, New York Times, 16 Jan. 2025

Thesaurus Entries Near strangle

Cite this Entry

“Strangle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/strangle. Accessed 30 Jan. 2025.

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