Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Strangle \Stran"gle\, v. i.
   To be strangled, or suffocated.

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 : WordNet®

strangle
     v 1: kill by squeezing the throat of so as to cut off the air;
          "he tried to strangle his opponent"; "A man in Boston
          has been strangling several dozen prostitutes" [syn: {strangulate},
           {throttle}]
     2: conceal or hide; "smother a yawn"; "muffle one's anger";
        "strangle a yawn" [syn: {smother}, {stifle}, {muffle}, {repress}]
     3: die from strangulation
     4: prevent the progress or free movement of; "He was hampered
        in his efforts by the bad weather"; "the imperilist nation
        wanted to strangle the free trade between the two small
        countries" [syn: {hamper}, {halter}, {cramp}]
     5: constrict (someone's) throat and keep from breathing [syn: {choke}]
     6: struggle for breath; have insufficient oxygen intake; "he
        swallowed a fishbone and gagged" [syn: {gag}, {choke}, {suffocate}]