Definition

Noun: 1. A person who kills by compressing the throat to prevent breathing: A murderer who uses strangulation as their method. 2. A type of plant (especially a fig) that grows upon and eventually envelops and kills its host tree: A plant, typically an epiphytic vine or tree, that begins life on another tree. Its roots grow downward, encircle the host's trunk, and gradually constrict it, leading to the host's death.

Examples

• Person:
  • The detective was on the trail of a serial strangler.
  • In the novel, the strangler left a distinctive signature at each crime scene.
• Plant:
  • The banyan tree is a classic example of a strangler fig.
  • Strangler vines had completely enveloped the old oak, cutting off its nutrients.

Advanced Usage

• "Strangler fig": The most common specific term for the botanical type.
  • The rainforest canopy is full of strangler figs growing on larger trees.
• Used metaphorically to describe anything that slowly constricts or suffocates something else.
  • The new regulations acted as a strangler on small businesses.

Variants and Related Words

• Strangle (verb): To kill by squeezing the throat; to suppress or hinder.
  • He tried to strangle his opponent. / Bureaucracy can strangle innovation.
• Strangulation (noun): The act or process of strangling; the state of being strangled.
  • The cause of death was strangulation.

Synonyms

• Person: Garroter, throttler.
• Plant: Epiphyte, parasitic plant (though "strangler" is more specific than the general term "epiphyte").

Related Idioms/Phrases

• "A strangler hold": (Derived from "stranglehold") A position of complete control that suppresses or destroys competition or freedom.
  • The corporation had a strangler hold on the entire industry.

Noun

1. someone who kills by strangling
2. an epiphytic vine or tree whose aerial roots extend down the trunk of a supporting tree and coalesce around it eventually strangling the tree