strangling

verb

present participle of strangle
1
as in choking
to be or cause to be killed by lack of breathable air the gull got tangled in a piece of fishing line on the beach and was strangled

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2
as in throttling
to keep (someone) from breathing by exerting pressure on the windpipe the boy complained that he was being strangled by his tie

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3
as in stifling
to refrain from openly showing or uttering strangled a gasp of surprise upon hearing the news

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of strangling The latest slate of attacks is strangling a recovery in movement throughout the strait that had been building for weeks. — Glenn Taylor, Footwear News, 13 Oct. 2026 Officers found multiple videos that showed Jackson grabbing his Goldendoodle by the neck and strangling it before throwing it against a wall, killing it, police said. — Sofia Saric, Miami Herald, 8 Oct. 2026 Devin Jacob Ballard, 20, who is stationed at Futenma Air Station, on suspicion of strangling Anna Yagi, 39, at a hotel in the island's capital city, Naha, early Saturday and stealing her wallet and backpack. — Arkansas Online, 7 Oct. 2026 Devin Jacob Ballard, a 20-year-old Ohio native belonging to the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, was arrested over the weekend on suspicion of strangling Anna Yagi, 39, at a hotel and stealing her wallet and backpack. — ABC News, 7 Oct. 2026 The Marine, who denies the allegations, is accused of strangling 39-year-old Anna Yagi and stealing her belongings. — Ben Finley, Los Angeles Times, 6 Oct. 2026 Devin Jacob Ballard, 20, who is stationed at Futenma Air Station, on suspicion of strangling Anna Yagi, 39, at a hotel in the island's capital city of Naha early Saturday and stealing her wallet and backpack. — CBS News, 6 Oct. 2026 After fatally strangling the children, Clancy attempted suicide by cutting her wrists and jumping out of a second-story window. — Liam Quinn, PEOPLE, 15 Sep. 2026 The jurors, including the foreperson, shared more about the behind-the-scenes deliberations over whether Clancy should be held criminally liable for strangling her three children. — Amanda Lee Myers, USA Today, 9 Sep. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for strangling
  1. choking
  2. stifling
  3. drowning
  4. suppressing
  5. suffocating
  6. swallowing
  7. smothering
Verb
  • Biddy covered most of the journey on foot—the equivalent of about six million steps—herding animals at the rear of her owner’s wagon company and choking her way through a moving screen of dust kicked up by the migrant caravan.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 Oct. 2026
  • On top of store closures and unsold inventory, the company was choking on enormous debt from a private equity buyout in 2014.
    — Phil Wahba, Fortune, 10 Oct. 2026
Definition of choking
Verb
  • The worm, however impossible to miss, is shoved, bumped, and pushed around with everyone else in the stifling subway car.
    — Deadline, Deadline, 14 Oct. 2026
  • The Canal+ Group’s shuttering of the Showmax streaming service earlier this year was just the latest example of how a distribution chokepoint is stifling Africa’s creative boom.
    — Christopher Vourlias, Variety, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of stifling
Verb
  • Prosecutors say he was beaten, suspended by his hands and feet and subjected to simulated drowning during two days of interrogation.
    — Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 15 Oct. 2026
  • Rings, watches, and even bedtime armbands like Garmin's Index Sleep Monitor now log every toss and turn, while dedicated sleep earbuds like the battery-less SomniBuds focus on drowning out the world around you.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of drowning
Verb
  • Embracing uncertainty does not mean ignoring danger, suppressing disappointment or insisting that every setback is positive.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 17 Oct. 2026
  • In addition to suppressing screen tearing, the Pro upgrade adds color and luminance certification as well as HDR compatibility.
    — Zackery Cuevas, PC Magazine, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of suppressing
Verb
  • The combination of Chance downing teams inside the 10-yard line combined with a suffocating defense could be a recipe for success for TCU in the final half of the season.
    — Steven Johnson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 19 Oct. 2026
  • Years of political turmoil, corruption and the ascendance of a deadly gang coalition are suffocating Haiti’s capital city.
    — Nick Paton Walsh, CNN Money, 17 Oct. 2026
Definition of suffocating
Verb
  • By institutional convention, such a show would unfold chronologically; but as its curator, the Native designer Brian Johnson, notes, time is a snake swallowing its own tail.
    — Tessa Solomon, ARTnews.com, 15 Oct. 2026
  • The Medicare Advantage and D-SNP list drops authorization for speech and language treatment, group speech treatment, swallowing dysfunction and spinal chiropractic manipulation.
    — JP Montoya, Forbes.com, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of swallowing
Verb
  • And none of the many alternative remedies for treating lice – such as smothering them with mayonnaise or oil, dehydrating them with saline or hot air, or zapping them with an electronic comb – have proven to be effective.
    — Emily J. C. Wong, The Conversation, 14 Oct. 2026
  • There’s the brutal heat; the skin destroying UV-rays of that miserable, scorching, eye-blinding sun; the constant allergy/sinusitis issues that NEVER let up; the smothering humidity.
    — R. Eric Thomas, Washington Post, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of smothering

Browse Nearby Words

strangles
strangling
strap
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Cite this Entry

“Strangling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/strangling. Accessed 21 Oct. 2026.

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