The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Throttle \Throt"tle\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Throttled; p. pr. &
   vb. n. Throttling.]
   1. To compress the throat of; to choke; to strangle.
      [1913 Webster]

            Grant him this, and the Parliament hath no more
            freedom than if it sat in his noose, which, when he
            pleases to draw together with one twitch of his
            negative, shall throttle a whole nation, to the wish
            of Caligula, in one neck.             --Milton.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To utter with breaks and interruption, in the manner of a
      person half suffocated. [R.]
      [1913 Webster]

            Throttle their practiced accent in their fears.
                                                  --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. To shut off, or reduce flow of, as steam to an engine.
      [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

throttling
    n 1: the act of suffocating (someone) by constricting the
         windpipe; "no evidence that the choking was done by the
         accused" [syn: choking, strangling, strangulation,
         throttling]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

28 Moby Thesaurus words for "throttling":
   asphyxia, asphyxiation, burking, censorship, choke, choking,
   crackdown, crushing, drowning, extinguishment, garrote,
   putting down, quashing, quelling, quenching, repression, smashing,
   smotheration, smothering, squashing, squelching, stifling,
   strangling, strangulation, subdual, suffocating, suffocation,
   suppression