From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
strangler
n 1: an epiphytic vine or tree whose aerial roots extend down
the trunk of a supporting tree and coalesce around it
eventually strangling the tree [syn: strangler,
strangler tree]
2: someone who kills by strangling [syn: garroter,
garrotter, strangler, throttler, choker]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Strangler \Stran"gler\, n.
One who, or that which, strangles. "The very strangler of
their amity." --Shak.
[1913 Webster]