throttle

Universal Words verb, noun verb [VN] to attack or kill sb by squeezing their throat in order to stop them from breathing SYNSTRANGLE: He throttled the guard with his bare hands. * (humorous) I like her, although I could cheerfully throttle her at times (= because she is annoying). * (figurative) The city is being throttled by traffic. PHRASALVERBS throttle (sth) back / down / up to control the supply of fuel or power to an engine in order to reduce/increase the speed of a vehicle: I throttled back as we approached the runway. noun a device that controls the amount of fuel that goes into the engine of a vehicle, for example the ACCELERATOR in a car: He drove along at full throttle (= as fast as possible). * open (up) / close the throttle (= increase / decrease the speed) * (figurative) The campaign is continuing to run at full throttle.