stranglehold

noun

stran·​gle·​hold ˈstraŋ-gəl-ˌhōld 

1

: an illegal wrestling hold by which one's opponent is choked

2

: a force or influence that stops something from growing or developing

… opened three stores within a year and got a stranglehold on market share.

—Inc.

Examples of stranglehold in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Now, there’s a growing coalition trying to revive condo construction in California by reforming a decades-old law that housing advocates and developers say has put a stranglehold on condo development. — Jack Dolan, Los Angeles Times, 11 Sep. 2026

The National Football League has been a Big Honking Deal for as long as anyone reading this has been alive, but its hegemonic stranglehold over the American psyche is very much a 21st century phenomenon. — Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 9 Sep. 2026

The whole region, Mencken argued, was a Baptist-Methodist stranglehold where fun and free thought were banished. — John Hayes, The Conversation, 9 Sep. 2026

Iran has maintained its stranglehold on the strategic Strait of Hormuz while Washington continues a counter-blockade of Iranian ports. — Mark Osborne, CBS News, 7 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1893, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for stranglehold

• copyhold
• decontrolled
• hundredfold
• manifold
• marigold
• oversold
• petioled
• sevenfold
• subthreshold
• thousandfold
• uncontrolled
• ahold

Kids Definition

stranglehold

noun

stran·​gle·​hold ˈstraŋ-gəl-ˌhōld 

1

: an illegal wrestling hold by which one's opponent is choked

2

: a force or influence that chokes or blocks freedom of development or expression