strangling

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)

strangling
    n 1: the act of suffocating (someone) by constricting the
         windpipe; "no evidence that the choking was done by the
         accused" [syn: {choking}, {strangling}, {strangulation},
         {throttling}]

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

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]

81 Moby Thesaurus words for "strangling": asphyxia, asphyxiation, beheading, burking, burning, capital punishment, censorship, choke, choking, constrictive, contrary, counterproductive, crackdown, crosswise, crucifixion, crushing, decapitation, decollation, defenestration, drowning, electrocution, execution, extinguishment, fusillade, garrote, gassing, hanging, hemlock, hindering, hindersome, in the way, inhibiting, inhibitive, interrupting, interruptive, judicial murder, killing, lapidation, liver death, megadeath, necktie party, obstructing, obstructive, obstruent, occlusive, poisoning, putting down, quashing, quelling, quenching, repression, repressive, restrictive, serum death, shooting, smashing, smotheration, smothering, squashing, squelching, starvation, stifling, stoning, strangulation, subdual, suffocating, suffocation, suppression, suppressive, the ax, the block, the chair, the gallows, the gas chamber, the guillotine, the hot seat, the rope, throttling, troublesome, violent death, watery grave