Strangle \Stran"gle\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Strangled; p. pr. & vb. n. Strangling.]

[OF. estrangler, F. ['e]trangler, L. strangulare, Gr. ?, ?, fr. ? a halter; and perhaps akin to E. string, n. Cf. Strain, String.]

1. To compress the windpipe of (a person or animal) until death results from stoppage of respiration; to choke to death by compressing the throat, as with the hand or a rope.

Our Saxon ancestors compelled the adulteress to strangle herself. --Ayliffe.

2. To stifle, choke, or suffocate in any manner.

Shall I not then be stifled in the vault, . . . And there die strangled ere my Romeo comes? --Shak.

3. To hinder from appearance; to stifle; to suppress. ``Strangle such thoughts.'' --Shak.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)