strangle
Americanverb (used with object)
-
strangles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
strangled,
past participle, past
-
strangling
present participle
-
to kill by squeezing the throat in order to compress the windpipe and prevent the intake of air, as with the hands or a tightly drawn cord.
-
to kill by stopping the breath in any manner; choke; stifle; suffocate.
- Synonyms:
- smother
-
to prevent the continuance, growth, rise, or action of; suppress.
Censorship strangles a free press.
verb (used without object)
-
strangles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
strangled,
past participle, past
-
strangling
present participle
verb
-
(tr) to kill by compressing the windpipe; throttle
-
(tr) to prevent or inhibit the growth or development of
to strangle originality
-
(tr) to suppress (an utterance) by or as if by swallowing suddenly
to strangle a cry
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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stranglesimple
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stranglessimple
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have strangledperfect
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has strangledperfect
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am stranglingprogressive
-
are stranglingprogressive
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is stranglingprogressive
-
have been stranglingperfect progressive
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has been stranglingperfect progressive
Past
-
strangledsimple
-
had strangledperfect
-
was stranglingprogressive
-
were stranglingprogressive
-
had been stranglingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of strangle
1250–1300; Middle English strangelen < Old French estrangler < Latin strangulāre < Greek strangalân, derivative of strangálē halter, akin to strangós twisted
Explanation
To strangle is to cut off someone's breathing by squeezing their throat. If your turtleneck sweater is too tight, you might feel like it's strangling you. To strangle is to squeeze shut, and it can also mean to gasp for air as if your throat were being squeezed. The word strangle comes from the Greek strangalan, "to choke or twist.” In addition to its throat-constricting meaning, strangle has also come to mean "hinder," like when your parents' strict curfew strangles your social life or when you try to strangle a sneeze in a quiet library.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
To help overcome the not-insignificant expense of buying a strangle, we chose a short expiration that reduces the amount of time premium embedded in the options.
From Barron's ● Mar. 25, 2026
Stagflation doesn’t have to strangle your stock portfolio.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 20, 2026
The famous Facebook motto “Move fast and break things” is cute, but a better Silicon Valley mantra would be “Go around and strangle things.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 11, 2026
The new models come just after the expiration of a $7,500 tax credit for new electric vehicles, which is expected to strangle growth at EV makers this month and going forward.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2025
I did not dare try to give him water from a glass, for fear he might strangle.
From "Z for Zachariah" by Robert C. O’Brien
All items in the table should be checked just before the earnings are announced, for that would be the time to buy the straddles or strangles if they do satisfy the “needed” requirement.
From MarketWatch ● May 28, 2026
This blocking of competition drives up prices for merchants and consumers, harms security and strangles innovation.”
From Washington Times ● Jul. 21, 2023
But the authors of this plan had decided to take a stand against the sort of real estate speculation that strangles supply and drives up housing prices.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 11, 2023
The searingly honest March 30 news article about the California drought, “In its third year, California’s drought strangles farming,” painted a brutal and accurate portrait of what’s happening to farmers and farm communities.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 1, 2022
And Billy knew he was thinking of the red pony, Gabilan, and of how it died of strangles.
From "The Red Pony" by John Steinbeck
But they're still strangled by international sanctions linked to terrorism and human rights.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
But the fuel blockade is hurting business, strangled by power cuts of up to 30 hours at a time, and fuel prices of up to $8 a liter.
From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 2026
It has one of the largest oil industries in the world, but it has been strangled for years by international sanctions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 10, 2026
The conflict with Iran has strangled movement through the Persian Gulf and catapulted the price of a barrel of oil.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 6, 2026
The woman's face had turned white as snow and her mouth was opening and shutting like a halibut out of water and giving out a series of strangled gasps.
From "Matilda" by Roald Dahl
But Xi must be concerned about the very real possibility of a global recession stemming from Iran’s continued strangling of shipping through the Strait.
From Salon ● May 14, 2026
In “Two Prosecutors,” the inert nobodies blocking Kornev’s progress are crisply choreographed, Stalin’s existential choke hold strangling their very spirit.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 26, 2026
And for some, such as the Strait of Hormuz, no maritime detours exist, effectively strangling supply.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 22, 2026
South Africa hosts the first G20 summit on African soil this weekend, with a debt crisis strangling many developing countries, at the top of the pile of issues on the table.
From Barron's ● Nov. 19, 2025
But it was not the green color of the jungles, suffocating and strangling the earth.
From "Ceremony:" by Leslie Marmon Silko
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
