strangle, constrict, wring
絞 centers on applying pressure to squeeze or tighten: strangling, constricting, or wringing something out.
絞 combines 糸 (thread) with 交 (exchange, mix), suggesting twisting or tightening threads together. The idea of constriction likely extends from this image.
Thread 糸 is twisted and pulled tight around something, like wringing out a cloth or constricting a neck. The right side 交 looks like crossed lines being squeezed together.
For コウ, imagine a coil of thread being pulled tight: coil -> コウ, and the thread constricts whatever it wraps around.
to wring (towel, rag); to squeeze
shibori; tie-dye; tie-dyeing
to strangle; to constrict
death by hanging; execution by hanging
death by hanging (punishment in the ritsuryō system)
to squeeze; to wring out
strangling (to death); strangulation
refinement; narrowing-down
hanging; strangling to death
to use to the full (one's voice, energy, etc.); to muster all of (one's strength, courage, etc.); to summon all of; to exert fully; to strain (one's voice)
to strangle to death
wet towel (supplied at table); hot, moistened hand towel
garlic press
winepress
Camellia japonica 'Iwaneshibori' (cultivar of common camellia)
to draw (a bow) to the limit
to chew out; to reprimand severely; to rake over the coals; to give a sound scolding; to tell someone off; to scold; to rebuke; to press oil
to squeeze the juice (from)
deep drawing (metalworking)
to think hard about (something that one doesn't know much of); to rack one's brain