strangle

strangle
    v 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" [syn:
         {strangle}, {strangulate}, {throttle}]
    2: conceal or hide; "smother a yawn"; "muffle one's anger";
       "strangle a yawn" [syn: {smother}, {stifle}, {strangle},
       {muffle}, {repress}]
    3: die from strangulation
    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" [syn: {hamper}, {halter}, {cramp}, {strangle}]
    5: constrict (someone's) throat and keep from breathing [syn:
       {choke}, {strangle}]
    6: struggle for breath; have insufficient oxygen intake; "he
       swallowed a fishbone and gagged" [syn: {gag}, {choke},
       {strangle}, {suffocate}]
    

Strangle \Stran"gle\, v. i.
   To be strangled, or suffocated.
   [1913 Webster]
    

Strangle \Stran"gle\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Strangled}; p. pr. &
   vb. n. {Strangling}.] [OF. estrangler, F. ['e]trangler, L.
   strangulare, Gr. ?, ?, fr. ? a halter; and perhaps akin to E.
   string, n. Cf. {Strain}, {String}.]
   1. To compress the windpipe of (a person or animal) until
      death results from stoppage of respiration; to choke to
      death by compressing the throat, as with the hand or a
      rope.
      [1913 Webster]

            Our Saxon ancestors compelled the adulteress to
            strangle herself.                     --Ayliffe.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To stifle, choke, or suffocate in any manner.
      [1913 Webster]

            Shall I not then be stifled in the vault, . . .
            And there die strangled ere my Romeo comes? --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. To hinder from appearance; to stifle; to suppress.
      "Strangle such thoughts." --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]
    

162 Moby Thesaurus words for "strangle":
      OD, abbreviate, asphyxiate, bang, bar, barricade, batten,
      batten down, be killed, behead, block, block up, blockade, bolt,
      bottle up, bowstring, burke, burn, button, button up, censor,
      chock, choke, choke off, circumscribe, clamp down on, clap, close,
      close off, close tight, close up, coarct, compact, compress,
      concentrate, condense, consolidate, constrict, constringe, contain,
      contract, cork, cork up, cover, crack down on, cramp, crowd,
      crucify, crush, curtail, damp down, debar, decapitate, decollate,
      decrease, defenestrate, deflate, disarm, dog, draw, draw in,
      draw together, drown, electrocute, enchain, execute, extinguish,
      famish, fasten, fold, fold up, gag, garrote, guillotine, hamstring,
      handcuff, hobble, hog-tie, hold down, inflict capital punishment,
      jam, jump on, keep down, keep under, key, kill, knit, knock out,
      lapidate, latch, lock, lock out, lock up, manacle, muffle, muzzle,
      narrow, obstruct, occlude, pack, padlock, paralyze, plumb,
      pour water on, prostrate, pucker, pucker up, purse, put down,
      put out, put to death, quash, quell, quench, reduce, repress, seal,
      seal off, seal up, secure, shoot, shorten, shush, shut,
      shut down on, shut off, shut out, shut the door, shut tight,
      shut up, silence, sit down on, sit on, slam, smash, smother, snap,
      snuff out, solidify, squash, squeeze, squeeze shut, squelch,
      stamp out, stanch, starve, stifle, stone, stop the breath, stop up,
      strangulate, stultify, subdue, suffocate, suppress, throttle,
      trample out, trample underfoot, truss up, wrinkle, zip up,
      zipper