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strangulation

/ˈstɹæŋɡ(j)əˌleɪ̯ʃ(ə)n/
nounB2+Occasional — familiar, but not everyday · #8,466 of 15,258leans spoken

Other forms: strangulations

Strangulation is the killing or blocking of something by squeezing it. Death by strangulation, strangulation of the bowel, strangulation marks.

In medicine it means a blood supply cut off by pressure, as in a strangulated hernia, and it is a surgical emergency. In law it is a category of assault, and several countries have made non-fatal strangulation a separate offence because it predicts later killing.

Definitions of strangulation

  1. 1nounstrangulationThe killing or blocking of something by squeezing it.B2+

    “The post-mortem showed that the victim had died from strangulation.”

strangulation is a squeezing.

Where it comes from

Latin strangulatio comes from strangulare, to choke, from a Greek word meaning to twist tight.

  1. Latin

    strangulatio — choking, suffocation

  2. English, today

    strangulation

Built from

  • strangulare · Latin — to choke, suffocate

From Latin strangulatio (“choking, suffocation”), from strangulare (“to choke, suffocate”); see strangle.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

strangulation in the wild

  • Fatal strangulation typically occurs in cases of violence, accidents, and is one of two main ways that hanging causes death (alongside breaking the victim's neck).

    Strangling

  • With a partner (or alone), the act often involves strangulation.

    Erotic asphyxiation

  • However, in many jurisdictions, strangulation is now a specific criminal offense, or an aggravating factor in assault cases.

    Strangulation in domestic violence

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.