noose
n.n. a loop of rope or string that is used to hang someone. It can also be a tight loop of something that holds or restricts a person or thing.
n. a loop of rope or string used for hanging; by extension, a tight loop or ring that binds or restricts something.
The executioner tightened the noose around the prisoner's neck.
The heavy chain formed a tight noose around the tree, preventing the boat from drifting away.
The tightening of the economic noose led to widespread protests as citizens struggled to afford basic necessities during the crisis.
From Middle English nose (“noose, loop”), of unclear origin. Possibly from Old French nos or Old Occitan nous, nos, nominative singular or accusative plural of nou (“knot”), with a required change in meaning shifting from the "knot" itself to the "loop" created by the knot. If so, then cognate with French nœud (“knot”), Portuguese nó (“knot”) and Spanish nudo (“knot”). Compare node and knot. Alternatively, and perhaps more likely, borrowed from Middle Low German nȫse (“loop, noose, snare”), itself of obscure origin. Perhaps derived from an incorrect division of ēn' ȫse (literally “a loop”), from Middle Low German ȫse, from Old Saxon ōsia, from Proto-West Germanic ansiju (“eyelet, loop”). Compare also Saterland Frisian Noose, Nouze (“loop, eyelet”) and Saterland Frisian Oose (“eyelet, loop”), potentially created via the same process.