Forms: 5 throtel, 5–6 throtil, 5–7 throtle, 6–7 thrattle, thratle, 7 thrattell, 7 throatle, 6– throttle. [Late ME. throtel, -il, perh. f. THROAT + -LE suffix3.
App. not derived from THROTTLE sb., which appears 150 years later. The Ger. drosseln (much later), now only in erdrosseln, is from drossel sb., so that drosseln and to throttle are not in their history parallel.]
1. trans. To stop the breath of by compressing the throat, to strangle; to kill in this way; loosely, to stop the breath of in any way, to choke, suffocate. The original meaning may have been ‘to take or seize by the throat.’ Also refl.
In some early quots. the meaning appears to be ‘to kill by cutting or stabbing the throat’ (rendering L. jugulāre).
a. 1400–50. Alexander, 4813. Þan come þai blesnand till a barme of a brent lawe, Neȝe throtild with þe thik aire & thrange in þare andes.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 12752. Þan entrid this Engist,… And, with a thricche in the throte, throtlet the kyng.
1432–50. trans. Higden (Rolls), IV. 181. His felawes taken by Antonius,… caste in to prison, were throtelede [strangulati] in hit. Ibid., V. 321. Boecius … was throtelede [cum jugulari facit] in the territory Mediolanense.
1564. Haward, Eutropius, IV. 44. This Aristonicus was thratled in prisone by the commandement of the Senate.
1582. N. T. (Rhem.), Matt. xviii. 28. He found one of his fellow-seruants … and … thratled him saying Repay that thou owest.
1602. Rowlands, Greene’s Ghost, 15. One of them thratled him so sore by the wind-pipe, that he could make no noise, but sodainly sunke to the ground.
1609. Holland, Amm. Marcell., 349. Palladius … knit his necke in an halter, and so throtled himselfe, and died.
1693. Dryden, Persius’ Sat., III. 199. His Throat half throtled with corrupted Fleam.
1730. Swift, Misc., True Eng. Dean, ix. Then throttle thy self with an Ell of strong Tape.
1816. Scott, Bl. Dwarf, vii. The dog … pulled down and throttled one of the hermit’s she-goats.
1861. Geo. Eliot, Silas M., I. iii. ‘Hold your tongue…,’ said Godfrey,… ‘else I’ll throttle you.’
b. transf. To tie something tightly round the neck of; to compress by fastening something round.
1863. Brierley, Waverlow, 228. The lower [portion of these figures] was so ‘throttled’ in unyielding pantaloons, as to resemble four boot-trees on an elongated scale.
1866. Geo. Eliot, F. Holt, v. Let a man once throttle himself with a satin stock.
1869. Blackmore, Lorna D., xxxv. I never had throttled a finger before, and it [the ring] looked very queer … upon my great … hand.
c. intr. or absol.
1837. Carlyle, Fr. Rev., III. III. iv. Party tugging and throttling with Party might have suppressed and smothered one another.
2. a. To check or break off (utterance) as if choking; † in qt. 1610, to utter in a choking voice.
1582. Stanyhurst, Æneis, IV. (Arb.), 108. Her talck in the mydel, with this last parlye, she throtled.
1590. Shaks., Mids. N., V. i. 97. I haue seene them shiuer and looke pale,… Throttle their practiz’d accent in their feares.
1610. Tofte, Honours Acad., I. 80. With a hollow voice, be thratled forth these few words. My dearest friends, let me intreat you [etc.].
b. fig. To stop forcibly the utterance of (a person or thing).
1641. Milton, Animadv., ii. Wks. 1851, III. 205. And thus you throttle your selfe with your owne Similies.
1647. Trapp, Comm. Mark iii. 2. It is a brave thing to throttle envy, to stop an evil mouth.
1838. Emerson, Address, Cambr., Mass., Wks. (Bohn), II. 196. The injury to faith throttles the preacher.
1901. Scotsman, 7 March, 6/2. If it were given any quarter, it would throttle Parliament.
3. intr. To undergo suffocation; to choke.
1566. [implied in throttling ppl. a.].
a. 1687. H. More, in Life R. Ward (1710), 208. She dyed without any Fever,… drawing her Breath a while as one asleep, without throatling.
1828–32. Webster, Throttle … 2. To breathe hard, as when nearly suffocated.
1909. Westm. Gaz., 21 Aug., 3/1. The child throttled and died in my arms.
4. trans. To check or stop the flow of (a fluid in a tube, etc.) esp. by means of a valve, or by compression; to regulate the supply of steam or gas to (an engine) in this way. (Cf. throttle-valve in prec. sb. 5.)
1875. R. F. Martin, trans. Havrez’ Winding Mach., 75. It would be better to use the steam expansively, rather than to throttle it by means of the regulator.
1884. R. Wilson, in Pall Mall G., 19 May, 11/2. How … can the pressure be reduced from two inches or more to eight-tenths? By throttling the gas at the meter or at the burner.
1898. Allbutt’s Syst. Med., V. 932. As the stenosis throttles the wave the increased velocity of the blood is counteracted by the rising pressure in the aorta.
1907. Daily Chron., 29 July, 5/5. The [motor] bus started skidding. I throttled the engine and stuck to my seat as long as I could.
Hence Throttled ppl. a., Throttling vbl. sb. and ppl. a.; also Throttler, one who or that which throttles: see also quot. 1895.
1818. Scott, Br. Lamm., ix. The huntsman then withdrew the hounds from the *throttled stag.
1906. Westm. Gaz., 14 Nov., 9/2. The motor-car … has grown out of knowledge. Pneumatic tyres, multiple cylinders, a throttled engine, electric ignition,… are a few of the leading improvements.
1859. Max Müller, Sc. Lang., ix. (1861), 367. All who have seen … the statue of Laokoon … may realise what those ancients felt … when they called sin anhas, or the *throttler. Ibid. (1889), Nat. Relig., xv. 404. An enemy had been called a throttler.
1895. Funk’s Standard Dict., Throttler … 2. A throttle-valve, or an engine having one.
a. 1687. *Throatling [see 3].
1826. Scott, Jrnl., 30 May. A sort of throttling sensation.
1863. Geo. Eliot, Romola, xxii. [He] might easily check any rebellious movement by the threat of throttling.
1875. R. F. Martin, trans. Havrez’ Winding Mach., 79. The throttling of the steam at the regulator.
1566. Studley, trans. Seneca, Agam., E vij. The old mans *thratlyng throt I sawe (alas) I saw yborde With cruell Pirrhus blade [senis in iugulo Telum Pyrrhi … tingui].
1700. Dryden, Pal. & Arc., III. 406. The throttling quinsey ’tis my star appoints.
1830. Scott, Demonol., i. 43. The broken cry of deer mangled by throttling dogs.
