noose
Cowboy's catching tool
A noose is a loop of rope with a slipknot that tightens when pulled, used historically for hanging executions.
The image carries heavy associations with lynching and racial terror in America, making noose displays threatening rather than merely morbid.
Figuratively, a noose represents a trap or inescapable situation: The noose was tightening around the corrupt politician.
Execution by noose
- gallowsExecution hanging apparatus
- scaffoldTemporary elevated work structure
- gibbetExecution display structure
- lynchingExtrajudicial killing by mob
executioner · trapdoor · capital punishment · condemned · death sentence · hangman · drop · judicial
Curve closing on itself
- lassoLooped rope for catching
- ropeThick twisted fibers
- cordFlexible twisted strand
- cinchGuaranteed easy thing
bight · bowline · hitch · halter · snare · tether · ligature · coil
Device for catching prey
- catchSeize or snag
- entrapmentDefense against induced criminality
- captureTake into custody
- lureThing that tempts
net · ambush · pitfall · entangle · web · decoy · bait · tightening
Voluntary death by oneself
- oppressionUnjust exercise of power
- threatIndication of potential harm
- intimidationDeliberate fear-inducing pressure
- racismPrejudice based on ethnicity
hate crime · terrorism · persecution · warning · stigma · taboo · injustice · violence
Making less loose
- closing inSteadily approaching something
- strangleholdOppressive, unbreakable control
- inescapableImpossible to avoid
- squeezeFirm bilateral compression
pressure · constriction · suffocating · binding · constraint · deadline · debt · obligation
hanging
Execution by noose
- gallowsExecution hanging apparatus
- scaffoldTemporary elevated work structure
- gibbetExecution display structure
lynching · executioner · trapdoor · capital punishment · condemned · death sentence · hangman · drop · judicial · lethal
loop
Curve closing on itself
cinch · bight · bowline · hitch · halter · snare · tether · ligature · coil · binding
snare
Device for catching prey
- catchSeize or snag
- entrapmentDefense against induced criminality
- captureTake into custody
lure · net · ambush · pitfall · entangle · web · decoy · bait · tightening · inescapable
suicide
Voluntary death by oneself
- oppressionUnjust exercise of power
- threatIndication of potential harm
- intimidationDeliberate fear-inducing pressure
racism · hate crime · terrorism · persecution · warning · stigma · taboo · injustice · violence · discrimination
tightening
Making less loose
- closing inSteadily approaching something
- strangleholdOppressive, unbreakable control
- inescapableImpossible to avoid
squeeze · pressure · constriction · suffocating · binding · constraint · deadline · debt · obligation · burden
- Wild Westcowboy, howdy, sheriff, giddyup, lawmen
- trapstrap, bear trap, mousetrap, rat trap, ant trap
- executionexecution, lethal injection, firing squad, gas chamber, electric chair
- knotsbowline, clove hitch, half hitch, figure eight, trucker's hitch
- penal historyprison, prisons, gaols, jails, penitentiaries
- ropeworkknots, ropework, hitch, splice, splicing
noosesquare knot
Flat binding tie
reef knot · bowline · stopper knot · clove hitch · figure-eight knot
nooselifeline
Essential connection to safety
life preserver · umbilical cord · olive branch · safety net · safety harness
noosekey
Lock-opening device
release mechanism · escape hatch · open door · freedom · liberation
- hangman's nooseFatal strangling loop
- slip nooseKnot tightening when pulled