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
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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:
“Whoever thought they could strangle the U.A.E.’s economy was ignorant of its very nature,” said Sheikh Abdulla bin Mohamed bin Butti Al Hamed, head of the Dubai media office.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
That is, if the choke point at the Strait of Hormuz doesn’t strangle the global economy.
From Barron's ● May 1, 2026
In fact, the straddle or strangle buy here is worth looking at.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 12, 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
The air seemed to strangle him, hold him back.
From "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison
As the war in Iran strangles the flow of oil around the globe, California’s jet fuel reservoirs are running low.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 24, 2026
In either case, the straddles or strangles are selling for prices that are attractive for a five-month time horizon on what has become a pretty volatile stock.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 19, 2026
This blocking of competition drives up prices for merchants and consumers, harms security and strangles innovation.”
From Washington Times ● Jul. 21, 2023
He could have added: until, finally, it strangles us.
From Washington Post ● May 1, 2022
I no longer have to tie the faja so tightly it strangles my rib cage for fear of my anacos falling down.
From "The Queen of Water" by Laura Resau
But they're still strangled by international sanctions linked to terrorism and human rights.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
The conflict has strangled Middle Eastern airports that are hubs for more than 20% of cargo moving between Asia and Europe, Africa and the U.S.
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 war has strangled shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a U-bend-like chokepoint off the Iranian coast that acts as a highway for more than a third of the world’s oceangoing oil exports each year.
From Slate ● Mar. 6, 2026
It was the same horribly familiar starry black that had nearly strangled Aru.
From "Aru Shah and the End of Time" by Roshani Chokshi
For 50 years, Cfius has made classified judgments about strategic assets without strangling private markets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
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
Lula's new plan aims to focus on financially strangling criminal factions, disrupting money laundering and cracking down on illicit markets that supply these groups, such as arms trafficking.
From Barron's ● May 12, 2026
I imitate Aykroyd strangling himself with a phone cord and choking on a foam ball to this very day.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2024
Symbolically, a Desire bus hurtled past me, its diesel exhaust almost strangling me.
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
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.
