| Main Entry: | |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | choke, stifle |
| Synonyms: | asphyxiate, gag, garrote/garrotte, inhibit, kill, muffle, quelch, repress, restrain, shush, smother, squelch, strangulate, subdue, suffocate, suppress, throttle |
| Notes: | strangle implies a focus on the result of this process, whereas strangulate focuses on the process itself |
| Antonyms: | free, let go, loose |
| Main Entry: | choke |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | smother, block |
| Synonyms: | asphyxiate, bar, check, clog, close, congest, constrict, dam, die, drown, fill, gag, garrote, gasp, gibbet, kill, noose, obstruct, occlude, overpower, retard, squeeze, stifle, stop, stopper, strangle, strangulate, stuff, stunt, suffocate, suppress, throttle, wring |
| Antonyms: | release, unblock, unconstrict |
| Main Entry: | constrict |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | inhibit |
| Synonyms: | astringe, choke, circumscribe, clench, compress, concentrate, condense, confine, constringe, contract, cramp, curb, draw together, limit, narrow, pinch, restrain, restrict, shrink, squeeze, strangle, strangulate, tauten, tense, tighten, tuck |
| Antonyms: | expand, free, let go, loosen, open, release |
| Main Entry: | crush |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | defeating soundly |
| Synonyms: | annihilate, bear down, beat, blot out, blow away, conquer, defeat, demolish, extinguish, force down, ice*, kill, obliterate, overcome, overpower, overwhelm, quelch, quell, reduce, ruin, squelch, stamp out, strangle, subdue, subjugate, suppress, vanquish, wreck |
| Antonyms: | lose, surrender, yield |
| Main Entry: | kill |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | deprive of existence; destroy |
| Synonyms: | X-out, annihilate, asphyxiate, assassinate, crucify, dispatch, do away with, do in, drown, dump, electrocute, eradicate, erase*, execute, exterminate, extirpate, finish, garrote, get*, guillotine, hang, hit*, immolate, liquidate, lynch, massacre, murder, neutralize, obliterate, off*, poison, polish off, put away, put to death, rub out, sacrifice, slaughter, slay, smother, snuff, strangle, suffocate, waste*, wipe out, zap |
| Antonyms: | bear, create, give birth |
| Main Entry: | muffled |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | quietened |
| Synonyms: | deadened, dim, dull, faint, flat, indistinct, mute, muted, obscure, silenced, stifled, strangled, subdued, suppressed |
| Antonyms: | clear, unblocked |
| Main Entry: | murder |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | kill |
| Synonyms: | abolish, asphyxiate, assassinate, behead, blot out, bump off, butcher, chill*, cool*, decapitate, defeat, destroy, dispatch, do in, drub, dust off, electrocute, eliminate, eradicate, execute, exterminate, extinguish, finish, garotte, guillotine, hang, hit*, knife, knock off, liquidate, lynch, mangle, mar, massacre, misuse, off*, put away, rub out, ruin, shoot, slaughter, slay, smother, snuff, spoil, strangle, take a life, take for a ride, take out*, thrash*, waste* |
| Notes: | the general term for the killing of a person by another is homicide; murder is either the intentional killing or malicious killing of another; manslaughter is the unintentional, accidental killing of another through carelessness |
| Antonyms: | guard, preserve, protect, save |
| Main Entry: | smother |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | extinguish; cover, hide |
| Synonyms: | asphyxiate, choke, collect, compose, conceal, control, cool, cork, douse, envelop, heap, hush up, inundate, keep back, kill, muffle, overwhelm, quash, quell, quench, rein, repress, restrain, shower, shroud, simmer down, snuff, squelch, stamp out, stifle, strangle, suffocate, suppress, surround, throttle |
| Antonyms: | light, start, uncover |
| Main Entry: | squeeze |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | exert pressure on sides, parts of something |
| Synonyms: | bear, choke, clasp, clip, clutch, compress, contract, cram, crowd, crush, cuddle, embrace, enfold, force, grip, hold tight, hug, jam, jostle, nip, pack, pinch, press, quash, ram, scrunch, squash, squish, strangle, stuff, throttle, thrust, wedge, wring |
| Antonyms: | expand, uncompress |