strangler
Học thuậtThân thiện
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
- someone who kills by strangling
- an epiphytic vine or tree whose aerial roots extend down the trunk of a supporting tree and coalesce around it eventually strangling the tree