"strangle" in the verb sense
1. strangle, strangulate, throttle
kill by squeezing the throat of so as to cut off the air
"he tried to strangulate his opponent"
"A man in Boston has been strangling several dozen prostitutes"
2. smother, stifle, strangle, muffle, repress
suppress in order to conceal or hide
"smother a yawn"
"muffle one's anger"
"strangle a laugh"
"repress a cry of fear"
3. strangle
die from strangulation
4. hamper, halter, cramp, strangle
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"
5. choke, strangle
constrict (someone's) throat and keep from breathing
6. gag, choke, strangle, suffocate
struggle for breath have insufficient oxygen intake
"he swallowed a fishbone and gagged"
Source: WordNet® (An amazing lexical database of English)
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