economic strangulation
- noun
- /ˌiːkəˈnɑːmɪk ˌstræŋɡjʊˈleɪʃən/
:
estrangulación económica
- It could respond positively to a long-standing Hamas offer to agree to a lasting ceasefire in exchange for ending Israel's economic strangulation of Gaza (which should be done, regardless, because it is destroying a whole society).
Examples
-
At the same time, the authorities were backing up their economic strangulation of the economy with harsh tax-collection measures.
Academic text (1991) -
emasculation, economic strangulation, and political abdication.
Academic text (1991) -
The Kremlin has consistently harassed neighboring countries; former Soviet nations, such as Georgia, have faced near economic strangulation.
Academic text (2007) -
The American navy blockaded the islands, trying to force capitulation by economic strangulation, but the Japanese were entrenched in their conquests, and stealthy lines of supply by ornithopter proved difficult to disrupt.
Fiction book (1999) -
The sanctions imposed on the country led to its economic strangulation, crippling its trade relations and causing widespread poverty.
-
Many believe that the economic strangulation of the region resulted from international sanctions, leaving the population in dire need of aid.
-
Governments often resort to economic strangulation as a form of punishment, restricting trade to pressurize regimes into compliance.
Synonyms
7
5.9
An official government order stopping trade with a country or some goods
1
7.0
To stop trade with a country or limit goods sold to it
1
6.1
To stop someone or something from making progress
Antonyms
How Severe
72
5.8
- Formal
150
6.8
- Specialized
9
5.0
270
5.6
Surface Forms
Morphology
economic + strangulation
The noun combines a transparent head 'economic' with a metaphorical use of 'strangulation' (literal choking/constriction) to mean severe cutting off of economic activity; the overall sense can be inferred by mapping the physical image of suffocation onto trade/policies but is not purely literal. This metaphorical extension is common cross-linguistically (e.g. Spanish 'estrangulamiento económico'), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would probably grasp the meaning but would need to perform a figurative inference.
Etymology
Economic strangulation uses the image of strangulation—squeezing a neck—to show what happens when a country's economic connections are cut off. It means 'cutting off trade' and money so the country cannot 'breathe' and becomes weaker.