chokehold

Plural: chokeholds

Noun

• complete power over a person or situation
  • "the president applied a chokehold to labor disputes that inconvenienced the public"
• a restraining hold; someone loops the arm around the neck of another person in a tight grip, usually from behind
  • "he grabbed the woman in a chokehold, demanded her cash and jewelry, and then fled"
• A grappling hold around a person's neck, especially one in which the neck is grasped tightly from behind with an arm, cutting off the flow of blood to the brain and restricting breathing.
• A powerful and restrictive control or influence over something.

Verb

• To put a hold around the neck of (someone), especially one in which the neck is grasped tightly from behind with an arm.

Examples

• "He put his opponent in a chokehold."
• "One country has a chokehold on another country's economy."

Synonyms

choke hold, neckhold, stranglehold, throttlehold