as in to choke
to keep (someone) from breathing by exerting pressure on the windpipe
I was so angry at what he was saying that I could have throttled him!
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Recent Examples of throttle
The White House could throttle federal funding for the upcoming World Cup and Olympic games, or even slow walk fire recovery assistance.
—
Douglas Schoen, Oc Register, 14 Aug. 2025
Although the riots swiftly died down after the initial spasm of outrage, many on the British right criticized the government’s response as heavy-handed, designed to throttle conservative views.
—Christian Edwards, CNN Money, 13 Aug. 2025
This makes the White House’s view — that tight money is throttling the economy and a cut in interest rates of three percentage points is needed — perplexing.
—Bloomberg Opinion, Twin Cities, 5 Aug. 2025
She was reinstated when tech billionaire and Trump supporter Elon Musk purchased Twitter and renamed it X -- but even then, Loomer complained to Musk that her account was being throttled and shadowbanned, two ways in which the platform is said to limit access to content.
—Will Steakin, ABC News, 5 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for throttle
Douglas Schoen, Oc Register, 14 Aug. 2025
Although the riots swiftly died down after the initial spasm of outrage, many on the British right criticized the government’s response as heavy-handed, designed to throttle conservative views.
—Christian Edwards, CNN Money, 13 Aug. 2025
This makes the White House’s view — that tight money is throttling the economy and a cut in interest rates of three percentage points is needed — perplexing.
—Bloomberg Opinion, Twin Cities, 5 Aug. 2025
She was reinstated when tech billionaire and Trump supporter Elon Musk purchased Twitter and renamed it X -- but even then, Loomer complained to Musk that her account was being throttled and shadowbanned, two ways in which the platform is said to limit access to content.
—Will Steakin, ABC News, 5 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for throttle
Recent Examples of Synonyms for throttle
Verb
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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
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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
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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
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The women were strangled and rendered unconscious during the attack.—
Ryan Murphy,
IndyStar,
3 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Throttle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/throttle. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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