garrote

variants or garotte
as in to strangle
to keep (someone) from breathing by exerting pressure on the windpipe the goons sent by the loan shark threatened to garrote the hero with his own necktie

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 garrote That means the Senate's only practical effect is adding another point at which oligarch lobbyists can garrote popular policy. Ryan Cooper, The Week, 29 Oct. 2021 Tony, unhindered by any sense of moral anguish, garrotes the man in broad daylight with a length of cable. Adam Wilson, Harper's magazine, 16 Sep. 2019 Sometimes the line between good writing and bad writing can be as thin as the piano wire with which a madman garrotes his victims. Laura Miller, Slate Magazine, 15 Aug. 2017 Last year, he was garroted by saw briars—the vicious inch-long thorns that lace the course—which left bleeding gashes across his neck. George Pendle, Esquire, 26 July 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for garrote
Verb
  • The company, which also owns the swankier Bloomingdales brand and cosmetics retailer Bluemercury, barely made it out of the pandemic after lockdowns strangled in-store shopping and drove customers ever closer to Amazon and other big-box retailers.
    Allison Morrow, CNN Money, 3 Sep. 2025
  • The women were strangled and rendered unconscious during the attack.
    Ryan Murphy, IndyStar, 3 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • British filmmaker Stephen Woolley (Carol, The Crying Game) has warned that tariffs, if imposed, could choke an already fragile indie sector.
    Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 4 Sep. 2025
  • He is accused of hitting his roommate more than two dozen times in the head and choking him for several seconds, according to the criminal complaint.
    John Diedrich, jsonline.com, 4 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Executives canceled projects, throttled budgets and moved production overseas.
    Katie Kilkenny, HollywoodReporter, 4 Sep. 2025
  • Economic development is throttled.
    Sivan Yaari, Forbes.com, 3 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Garrote.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/garrote. Accessed 11 Sep. 2025.

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