strangles

present tense third-person singular of strangle
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

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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

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3

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 strangles 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
  • Even the woman Larry falls for, Gwen (Evelyn Ankers), isn't immune to the animal's evil charms, and the creature nearly chokes the life out of her in one scene.
    Steven Thrash, Entertainment Weekly, 24 Oct. 2025
  • Hybrid-resilient architecture—local backups that can kick in like muscle memory when the cloud chokes.
    Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 3 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Or to send any kind of message that stifles his defining disposition.
    Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 22 Oct. 2025
  • The judge found that Google has been engaging in behavior that stifles competition to the detriment of online publishers that depend on the system for revenue.
    Michael Liedtke, Fortune, 22 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Just like particles behave differently when observed, your business suffocates under micromanagement.
    Jodie Cook, Forbes.com, 8 Sep. 2025
  • Rather than conjuring a mood of bracing inexorability, this linear focus only suffocates what might be an interesting debate, as a man of the modern world weighs his values against those of a woman raised in atavistic isolation.
    Richard Lawson, HollywoodReporter, 7 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • This dynamic suppresses wages and distorts labor competition.
    Billal Rahman, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Oct. 2025
  • This robust interface, enriched with lithium fluoride and lithium nitride, effectively suppresses dendrite formation.
    Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 26 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Taroko Gorge, however, carves breathtaking grandeur from marble stone; a natural cathedral of cliffs, where suspension bridges sway above rapids and swallows dart through narrow canyons.
    Lewis Nunn, Forbes.com, 14 Aug. 2025
  • Neurocysticercosis occurs after a person swallows pork tapeworm eggs, according to the CDC.
    Deirdre Bardolf, FOXNews.com, 9 Aug. 2025
Verb
  • Elsewhere, the details lifted from the book suffer in translation – Branagh’s Victor is appropriately arrogant but not adequately tortured; De Niro’s Monster is sensitive and intuitive, but drowns in the film’s hurried, hollow second half.
    Rory Doherty, Vulture, 20 Oct. 2025
  • The line in Swift's song and The Life of a Showgirl's cover art appears to be inspired by a Victorian-era painting that depicts the scene in Hamlet when Ophelia goes crazy and falls into a stream and drowns after learning Hamlet killed her father.
    Olivia B. Waxman, Time, 3 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Each participant had lost central vision in one eye due to dry AMD, which destroys light-sensitive macular cells over time.
    Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 20 Oct. 2025
  • An arson fire destroys the 43-year-old Globe Theatre on March 8 (the arsonist was never caught, but a firebug had set several blazes in the park that winter).
    Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 Oct. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Strangles.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/strangles. Accessed 28 Oct. 2025.

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