as in strangled
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 throttled
Heavy industrial water use—such as by data centers—should be throttled through taxation to fund desalinated water for refilling depleted aquifers.
—
Eleanor Dearman, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 14 Feb. 2026
The matchup dynamic is fairly straightforward in that Saint Denis is a super aggressive, pace grappler who has throttled most of his competition on the mat.
—Brett Appley, New York Times, 31 Jan. 2026
Behind Staubach, Dallas cruised through the playoffs with relative ease and throttled Miami in the Super Bowl, capturing the first championship in team history.
—R.j. Coyle, Dallas Morning News, 27 Jan. 2026
In fact, the only time New England has beaten the Broncos in the postseason was 2012 when the Patriots throttled Denver and Tim Tebow, 45-10, at Gillette Stadium.
—Matt Schooley, CBS News, 19 Jan. 2026
The 49ers opened the week as bigger underdogs against the top-seeded Seahawks, who throttled San Francisco 13-3 at Levi’s Stadium two weeks ago.
—Chris Biderman, Sacbee.com, 13 Jan. 2026
Putin's regime has banned Facebook and Instagram and severely throttled other platforms such as X, formerly Twitter.
—Alexander Smith, NBC news, 24 Dec. 2025
Alabama, on the other hand, was throttled by Florida State in the first game of the season and then lost to the Oklahoma Sooners by two.
—Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 8 Dec. 2025
However, Alabama and BYU were each throttled in its conference championship games on Saturday — the Crimson Tide falling 28-7 to Georgia, BYU losing 34-7 to Texas Tech.
—Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 7 Dec. 2025
Eleanor Dearman, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 14 Feb. 2026
The matchup dynamic is fairly straightforward in that Saint Denis is a super aggressive, pace grappler who has throttled most of his competition on the mat.
—Brett Appley, New York Times, 31 Jan. 2026
Behind Staubach, Dallas cruised through the playoffs with relative ease and throttled Miami in the Super Bowl, capturing the first championship in team history.
—R.j. Coyle, Dallas Morning News, 27 Jan. 2026
In fact, the only time New England has beaten the Broncos in the postseason was 2012 when the Patriots throttled Denver and Tim Tebow, 45-10, at Gillette Stadium.
—Matt Schooley, CBS News, 19 Jan. 2026
The 49ers opened the week as bigger underdogs against the top-seeded Seahawks, who throttled San Francisco 13-3 at Levi’s Stadium two weeks ago.
—Chris Biderman, Sacbee.com, 13 Jan. 2026
Putin's regime has banned Facebook and Instagram and severely throttled other platforms such as X, formerly Twitter.
—Alexander Smith, NBC news, 24 Dec. 2025
Alabama, on the other hand, was throttled by Florida State in the first game of the season and then lost to the Oklahoma Sooners by two.
—Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 8 Dec. 2025
However, Alabama and BYU were each throttled in its conference championship games on Saturday — the Crimson Tide falling 28-7 to Georgia, BYU losing 34-7 to Texas Tech.
—Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 7 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for throttled
Verb
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Getty Images Since the June strikes, Iran’s rulers have been weakened by street protests, suppressed at a cost of thousands of lives, against a cost-of-living crisis driven in part by international sanctions that have strangled the country’s oil income.—
Max Burman,
NBC news,
17 Feb. 2026
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Hanlon was out hiking when Hall assaulted and strangled her to death.—
Kevin Fixler,
Idaho Statesman,
10 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Three years after the incident involving Cordell, a prisoner claimed he was assaulted, choked and Tazed by Hadder while on day release for a family reunion at a Waffle House.—
Rob Picheta,
CNN Money,
7 Feb. 2026
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Kenya choked under the dictatorship of Daniel arap Moi, who ruled from 1978 to 2002.—
Binaifer Nowrojee,
Time,
30 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Throttled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/throttled. Accessed 18 Feb. 2026.
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