▪ I. strangle, n.
(ˈstræŋg(ə)l)
[f. strangle v.]
† 1. The action of strangling; strangulation. Obs.
| c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 1600 Myn is þe strangle [So Lansd.; other MSS. stranglyng] and hangyng by þe þrote. a 1603 T. Cartwright Confut. Rhem. N.T. (1618) 373 Divers lewd traditions..as of Iudas breaking the rope where⁓with he hung himselfe, directly contrary to Luke, who writeth that he dyed of that strangle. |
| fig. 1641 Milton Animadv. 8 An injurious strangle of silence. |
† 2. = strangles. Obs.
| 1607 Markham Caval. vii. 70 For betwixt the Strangle and the Glanders is but this difference, that [etc.]. |
3. = strangle-hold (in 4).
| 1890 E. Hitchcock in Outing Nov. 117/1 The man unfortunate enough to be under the neck-stretching hold of a ‘Nelson’, or in the grip of a ‘strangle’, both of which holds are now usually barred in competition. 1906 in F. R. Toombs How to Wrestle 65 Now we consider a strangle from the rear. |
4. Comb. † strangle-halt, ? = stringhalt; strangle-hold Wrestling, a hold which stops the adversary's breath; also fig.
| 1624 L. W. C. Perf. Disc. Horse D 2 b, For the Strangle-halt. 1893 Lippincott's Mag. Feb. 210 In the ‘strangle’ hold, an opponent's head is caught under the arm, and the unfortunate man is compelled to acknowledge defeat or be choked into insensibility. 1901 H. M{supc}Hugh John Henry 83 Day after to-morrow he'll flash the intelligence on me that he has invented a strangle-hold line of business that will put Looey Harrison on the blink. 1930 G. B. Shaw Apple Cart p. x, This purely inhibitive check on tyranny has become a stranglehold on genuine democracy. 1939 Daily Tel. 18 Dec. 6/4 Hitler knows and fears the stranglehold of the British and Allied blockade. 1980 I. Colegate Shooting Party (1982) 7 The strangle⁓hold of the rich on the life-blood of the working man. |
▪ II. strangle, v.
(ˈstræŋg(ə)l)
Forms: 4 strangel(le, strangul, 4, 6 strangil, 5 strangli, strang(e)lyn, 6 strangyll, straungle, strongle, 7 strengle, 4– strangle. See also astrangle, estrangle vbs.
[a. OF. estrangler (mod.F. étrangler) = Pr. estranglar, estrangolar, Sp., Pg. estrangular, It. strangolare, strangulare:—L. strangulāre, a. Gr. στραγγαλᾶν, f. στραγγάλη halter, cogn. w. στραγγός twisted.]
1. a. trans. To kill by external compression of the throat, esp. by means of a rope or the like passed round the neck.
| 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 972 Ne here helpe hadde be, þat was so nere, Þe hand me hadde strangled here. 1338 ― Chron. (1725) 33 Þe kyng tok þis pantelere, & strangled him right þore. 13.. K. Alis. 5305 The other lep on an olyfaunt,..And strangled hym in litel stounde. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 8408 Þai [sc. the damned] salle be fulle..Of hatred..Swa þat ilk ane wald with other fyght, And strangelle other, if þai myght. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 476 Knytte þis coorde to mannus þrote & it myȝte soone strangle þis man. 1426 Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 8245 Thys gorger..strangleth me almost vp ryht, That I may nat speke a-ryht. c 1430 ― Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 238 This name Jhesus..Is for to seyne..Our strong Sampson that stranglyd the lioun. c 1450 Merlin i. 4 She henge herself and was strangelid to death. c 1500 Three Kings' Sons (1895) 132 He..drewe the rope so fast, that was aboute his nek, that he had strangild him, had not his folkes cried on him, and seide that it was the hangmans office,..to do so foul a dede. 1530 Palsgr. 738/2 He held me so harde by the throote that he hade allmost stranglyd me. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon lxxxi. 249 Your brother Gerarde [ought] to be hanged and strangled. 1555 Instit. Gentl. L v b, This Narcissus then accordyngly entered into the chaumbre of Comodus, and by force strangled him to deathe. 1563–83 Foxe A. & M. 1079/2 Tindall..was..then strangled first by the hangman, and afterward with fire consumed. 1577–87 Harrison England ii. xi. 184/2 in Holinshed, He is either hanged aliue in chaines..(or else vpon compassion taken first strangled with a rope). 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. v. i. 142 He shall present Hercules in minoritie: his enter and exit shall bee strangling a Snake. 1602 Chettle Hoffman iv. (1631) H 2, Weapons draw blood..Then strangle her, here is a towell sir. 1613 Beaum. & Fl. Philaster v. iii. (1620) 57 Vnlesse it be some snake, or something like your selfe, That in his birth shall strengle you. 1663 Unfort. Usurper iv. iv. 50 He strangles Alexius with the Bowstring. a 1700 Evelyn Diary 21 Oct. 1678, The murder of Sir Edmondbury Godfrey, found strangl'd about this time. 1726 Ayliffe Parergon 52 Our Saxon Ancestors compelled the Adulteress to strangle herself. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. V. 134 As for small birds, they are its usual food. It seizes them by the throat, and strangles them in an instant. 1800 Med. Jrnl. IV. 327 The os uteri encircled round the neck of the fœtus like a collar, insomuch that the fœtus was strangled. 1892 R. Buchanan Come live with Me iii. 30 Geoffrey's fingers itched to strangle him out of life. |
b. fig.
| a 1591 H. Smith Trump. Soule A 5 b, Strangle sinne in thy cradle, for all the wisedome in the world wil not help thee else. 1678 Stillingfl. Serm. xvi. (1707) 249 If this be the way to reconcile us to their Communion, have we not great reason to be fond of returning into the Bosom of such a Church which may strangle us as soon as it gets us within her Arms? 1870 J. Bruce Gideon x. 179 They would be eager to strangle this insurrection in the birth. |
c. To constrict painfully (the neck or throat).
| c 1450 Mirk's Festial 79 Þat þrote þat spake þe wordes of traytery..was ystrangled with þe grynne of a rope. 1540 Palsgr. Acolastus ii. i. H ij, I haue a throte bolle almoste strangled .i. snarled or quarkennyd with extreme hunger. 1886 C. E. Pascoe Lond. To-day xli. (ed. 3) 355 The cravat has passed out of memory..and the ‘stock’ is only to be seen occasionally strangling the neck of a stout City magnate. |
† d. intr. To be at close grips, to struggle with.
| 1595 Locrine i. i. 29 In vaine, therefore, I strangle [ed. 1664 struggle] with this foe. |
2. a. trans. In wider sense: To kill by stoppage of breath; to smother, suffocate, choke. Now rare.
to strangle down (nonce-use): of a whirlpool, to choke as it engulfs.
| a 1300 Havelok 640 Y was þe[r]-with [i.e. with a gag] so harde prangled, Þat i was þe[r]-with ney strangled. c 1450 Brut ii. 352 Þei token þe fetherbed..and cast hit aboue hym;..and sum lay vpon þe fethir bed apon hym, vnto þe tyme þat he were ded... And þus þei strangled þis worthi Duk vn[to] the deth. 1483 Caxton Cato 5 An ensample how the auaricious man ete iiii pyeces of golde and how the fourthe strangled hym. 1504 W. Atkynson tr. De Imit. i. xxiii. 173 Some etynge haue be strangled. 1574 T. Newton Health Mag. L ij, If a liuinge Mullet be put into wine and choked or strangled therin, whatsoeuer man drinketh of the same wyne, shall [etc.]. 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. iv. iii. 35 Shall I not then be stifled in the Vault?.. And there die strangled ere my Romeo comes. 1599 Hayward 1st Pt. Hen. IV, 40 He was strangled under a feather bedde. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Damps, A Labourer, who was sent down [the well] to recover it [a hammer], ere he reach'd the Water, was strangled. 1833 Mrs. Browning Prometh. Bound Wks. 1850 I. 189 With Necessity's vortices strangling me down! 1888 Spectator 14 Jan. 49 Over a territory of ten thousand square miles..the soft water passed, silently strangling every living thing. |
† b. To kill by poison or the like; rarely, by the sword. Obs.
| c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. i. pr. iv. (1868) 19 Al þouȝ I hadde ben accused þat I wolde..strangle [L. ingulare] prestys wiþ wicked swerde [etc.]. c 1443 Lydg. in Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 214 Hanybal,..At the laste, stranglyd with poisoun, Of marcial ire koude lyve nevir in pees. 1535 Coverdale Jer. xv. 3 The swearde shal strangle them [Luther Mit dem Schwerdt, dass sie erwürget werden]. a 1578 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 407 Or they come he was nearhand strangled to death be the extreme melancollie. 1602 Marston Antonio's Rev. i. i, That I should drop strong poyson in the boawle,..That it should worke..And strangle him on sodaine. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 237 Galen saith, if it be eaten without Hony, water, and salt, it curdleth in the belly of a man like a cheese and strangleth him. |
† c. said of a wild beast, a devil. Obs.
| 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 3189 For me ys come þe fende of helle... Ryȝt now shal he me strangle and cheke, Ne shal y neuer aftyr speke. c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 688 Þat ich niȝt þe deuel com & strangled hir owhen grom. c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 1160 Yet saugh I..The hunte strangled with the wilde beres. 1386 ― Pars. T. 768 They been the deueles wolues that stranglen the sheepe of Ihesu crist. 1390 Gower Conf. III. 197 The Jew..strangled was of a leoun. c 1400 Solomon's Bk. Wisdom 243 Þere seuen hungri lyouns weren þereinne all ydytte, ffor þai hym strangli scholden. 1447 O. Bokenham Seyntys, Agnes 394 Þe deuyl hym stranglyd in þat place. 1481 Caxton Myrr. ii. xvi. 102 Hym sholde seme anon in his slepe dremyng that all the deuyllis of helle shold come to hym and strangle hym. 1484 ― Fables of Auian xiv, The lyon wold haue strangled hym. a 1700 Evelyn Diary 18 Mar. 1644 This country so abounds with wolves, that a shepherd whom we met told us one of his companions was strangled by one of them the day before. 1751 Gentl. Mag. XXI. 555 A sort of wolves, which attack..children, of whom they have already strangled and devoured about thirty. |
| absol. 1611 Bible Nahum ii. 12 The Lion did teare in pieces enough for his whelpes, and strangled for his Lionesses. |
3. a. transf. To choke, hinder the growth of (a plant) by crowding; † to stifle, quench (a fire, heat) (obs.); to impede the action of (an internal bodily organ) by compression; to suppress (a laugh, a yawn).
| 1382 Wyclif Matt. xiii. 7 Forsothe other seedis felden amonge thornis; and the thornis wexen vp and strangliden hem [Vulg. suffocaverunt ea]. c 1530 Judic. Urines i. iii. 6 b, Therfore kynde hete is theked and straungled. Ibid. ii. iv. 21 And moche water quencheth & cheketh & strangleth feble fyre. 1605 Shakes. Macb. ii. iv. 7 Byth' Clock 'tis Day, And yet darke Night strangles the trauailing Lampe. 1614 Jackson Creed iii. To Indifferent Rdr. a 6 Like the Iuy alwaies greene, because not set to bring forth fruit vnto saluation, but rather to choake and strangle the plants of life. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. i. ii. ii. ii. (1624) 63 As a Lampe is choaked with a multitude of oyle,..so is the naturall heat with immoderate eating strangled in the body. 1707 Mortimer Husb. 387 Young Trees will be strangled with..any rank growing Corn or Weeds, if [etc.]. 1829 Scott Anne of G. xxxii, The poor King..saw..the fatal cabinet..and dolefully calculated how many yawns he must strangle ere he sustained the consideration of its contents. 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. IV. 476 The presence of large quantities of this intrusive substance strangling the secreting structures. 1898 Ibid. V. 788 [The symptoms] occur..also where the heart is strangled and compressed by dense fibrous thickening. |
b. fig. with various notions. To prevent the growth or rise of; to hamper or destroy by excessive restrictions; to suppress. Also with off.
| 1611 Shakes. Wint. T. iv. iv. 47 Be merry (Gentle) Strangle such thoughts as these, with any thing That you behold the while. 1642 H. More Song of Soul iii. iii. 41 Consuming anguish, styptick bitternesse, Doth now so strangle their imperious will. 1658–9 in Burton's Diary (1828) III. 321 It is not fit to debate whether it shall be in the power of any person or persons to strangle the debates and pains of this House. 1661 Sir C. Cotterell tr. Calprenède's Cassandra ii. ii. (1676) 145 Too inconsiderable to strangle your interests. 1710 Prideaux Orig. Tithes App. Reasons for Bill 1 As often as a Bill was brought into Parliament for this purpose, it was always encountered with another..and the latter constantly strangled the former. 1898 Meredith Odes, Napoleon vi, Her surest way to strangle thought. 1911 J. H. Rose Pitt & Gt. War iii. 72 The exclusive privileges retained by the Dutch had almost strangled the trade of Antwerp. 1918 D. H. Lawrence New Poems 38 The frost has..ruthlessly strangled off the fantasies Of leaves. |
4. intr. To be choked or suffocated.
| 1338 R. Brunne Chron. (1725) 55, I praye God if it wer so I strangle of þis brede. 1662 R. Mathew Unl. Alch. 8 He could not..lie down in his bed; and if he had assayed to do it, then he should strangle. 1848 Thackeray Bk. Snobs xxii, He came down..with a surly scowl on his..face, strangling in a tight, cross-barred cravat. 1889 Stevenson Master of Ballantrae ix. 228 Some foul and ominous nightmare, from the which I would awake strangling. 1897 Bookman Jan. 116/1 Strangling in our starch we can rally him [Byron] familiarly on his limp collars. |
5. Comb: † strangle-goose slang, a poulterer (Grose Dict. Vulgar T. 1785); † strangle-tare [transl. of Gr. ὀροβάγχη, f. ὄροβος tare, vetch + ἄγχ-ειν to choke, strangle], Turner's name for the Broomrape (Orobanche); by later writers sometimes applied to some other parasitic plants; strangle-vetch, -weed = strangle-tare.
In some modern books strangle-tare, -vetch, -weed are given as popular names, but it does not appear that they have had any real currency.
| 1562 Turner Herbal ii. 71 It hath the name of Orobanche, that is chokefitche or strangletare. 1597 Gerarde Herbal Table Eng. Names, Strangle weede, and Strangle tare, that is Orobanch. 1693 Urquhart's Rabelais iii. li, Unto whom it is more contrarious and hurtful than the Strangle-weed, Choak fitch is to the Flax. 1796 Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) III. 638 Strangle Vetch, or Tare. 1861 Anne Pratt Flower. Pl. IV. 77 The Broomrapes..have in country places the old name of Strangleweed. 1863 Prior Plant-n., Strangle⁓tare, a tare that strangles, Vicia lathyroides, and also a plant that strangles a tare, Cuscuta Europæa. |