1
as in chokes
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in throttles
to keep (someone) from breathing by exerting pressure on the windpipe
the boy complained that he was being strangled by his tie
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in stifles
to refrain from openly showing or uttering
strangled a gasp of surprise upon hearing the news
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of strangles
As Grace looks on in horror, her soon-to-be husband strangles Ursula and snaps her neck.
—
Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 20 Mar. 2026
Mostly, though, Boland strangles batters with his suffocating and deadly-accurate line and length.
—Tim Spiers, New York Times, 7 Jan. 2026
What starts as an innocent father/daughter college visit takes a shocking turn when Tony brutally strangles a Mob turncoat.
—Dan Snierson, Entertainment Weekly, 27 Dec. 2025
What worked at ten employees strangles progress at one hundred.
—Brent Gleeson, Forbes.com, 13 Sep. 2025
At that point, both Hsiao-Lee’s life and our perspective open up toward something more hopeful, even if plenty of turmoil — including another unbearable scene in which Chiang nearly strangles Chuan to death — continues back home.
—Jordan Mintzer, HollywoodReporter, 4 Sep. 2025
Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 20 Mar. 2026
Mostly, though, Boland strangles batters with his suffocating and deadly-accurate line and length.
—Tim Spiers, New York Times, 7 Jan. 2026
What starts as an innocent father/daughter college visit takes a shocking turn when Tony brutally strangles a Mob turncoat.
—Dan Snierson, Entertainment Weekly, 27 Dec. 2025
What worked at ten employees strangles progress at one hundred.
—Brent Gleeson, Forbes.com, 13 Sep. 2025
At that point, both Hsiao-Lee’s life and our perspective open up toward something more hopeful, even if plenty of turmoil — including another unbearable scene in which Chiang nearly strangles Chuan to death — continues back home.
—Jordan Mintzer, HollywoodReporter, 4 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for strangles
Verb
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Like other invasive plants, stinknet chokes native plants and increases fire risk.—
Shi En Kim,
AZCentral.com,
13 Mar. 2026
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With fuel and freight prices skyrocketing as war chokes the Strait of Hormuz, the Panama Canal is seeing more business than usual.—
Elizabeth González,
CNN Money,
12 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Nothing stifles a good time like being stressed about what is going on at home without any way to intervene.—
Kaitlyn Yarborough,
Southern Living,
10 Mar. 2026
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Some parents have no issue monitoring and restricting how kids are using social media, AI chat bots, and even texting apps to keep them safe, while others worry too much oversight is an invasion of privacy and stifles their child's ability to develop independence.—
Liz Regalia,
Parents,
26 Feb. 2026
Verb
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What did work in one of the older movies, though, was the Oxygen Destroyer device, which effectively suffocates the creature.—
Sergio Pereira,
Space.com,
27 Feb. 2026
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Complexity is exactly what suffocates scale.—
May Habib,
Fortune,
24 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Blue light from screens suppresses melatonin by up to 80%, delaying sleep onset when viewed within an hour of bedtime and fragmenting deep sleep.—
John La Puma,
Oc Register,
26 Mar. 2026
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Blue light suppresses melatonin and makes falling back asleep significantly harder.—
Allison Palmer,
Miami Herald,
23 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The pieces knit together to form a cast iron surface that sheds water, smothers weeds and holds up for a long time.—
Paul Cappiello,
Louisville Courier Journal,
6 Mar. 2026
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On the latter, Bollywood royalty Asha Bhosle, 92, sings in Hindi of setting sail to the other side, but Albarn smothers her beneath heraldic bursts of Disneyfied psych-pop.—
Jazz Monroe,
Pitchfork,
27 Feb. 2026
Verb
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In Charlie Chaplin’s 1936 film Modern Times, a factory worker struggles to keep pace with an ever-accelerating assembly line—until the machine swallows him whole.—
Nick Lichtenberg,
Fortune,
26 Mar. 2026
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The actor audibly swallows to fight back the tears glittering in his eyes before continuing.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
24 Mar. 2026
Verb
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After 81 nearly drowns during an underwater drill, the regiment leaders (played by Dennis Quaid and Esai Morales) express concern that his PTSD from losing his brother might put him at risk or affect the team.—
Allison DeGrushe,
Entertainment Weekly,
10 Mar. 2026
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When Christina drowns herself for a second time, Baron Frankenstein is confronted by the unpredictability of stitching together dead flesh—his female creation is capable of reckoning with her past suffering.—
Rory Doherty,
Time,
7 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The extreme heat kills the plant tissue immediately and typically destroys the roots of many weed species.—
Lauren Jarvis-Gibson,
Kansas City Star,
26 Mar. 2026
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Intrigued, the Duke secretly seduces Gilda, breaks her heart and destroys Rigoletto’s life.—
Pam Kragen,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
22 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Strangles.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/strangles. Accessed 30 Mar. 2026.
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