To render unable to breathe by filling, pressing upon, or squeezing the windpipe; to stifle; to suffocate; to strangle.

To hinder or check, as growth, expansion, progress, etc.; to stifle.

To have the windpipe stopped; to have a spasm of the throat, caused by stoppage or irritation of the windpipe; to be strangled.

A stoppage or irritation of the windpipe, producing the feeling of strangulation.

become stultified, suppressed, or stifled; "He is suffocating--living at home with his aged parents in the small village"

suppress the development, creativity, or imagination of; "His job suffocated him"

a technique in which you apply pressure against the windpipe or larynx to cut off the air supply to the lungs, thus limiting the supply of oxygen to the brain, which leads to unconsciousness

A sling is threaded by passing one end through the opposite end and then pulled tight. Also known in the US as a strangle. Submitted by Piers from London, UK.