choke

[chohk]

verb (used with object)

choked, choking 

1. to stop the breath of by squeezing or obstructing the windpipe; strangle; stifle.

2. to stop by or as if by strangling or stifling.

   The sudden wind choked his words.

3. to stop by filling; obstruct; clog.

   Grease choked the drain.

   Synonyms: plug, dam, block

4. to suppress (a feeling, emotion, etc.) (often followed by back ordown ).

   I managed to choke back my tears.

5. to fill chock-full.

   The storeroom was choked with furniture.

6. to seize (a log, felled tree, etc.) with a chain, cable, or the like, so as to facilitate removal.

7. to enrich the fuel mixture of (an internal-combustion engine) by diminishing the air supply to the carburetor.

8. Sports.,  to grip (a bat, racket, or the like) farther than usual from the end of the handle; shorten one's grip on (often followed byup ).

verb (used without object)

choked, choking 

1. to suffer from or as from strangling or suffocating.

   He choked on a piece of food.

2. to become obstructed, clogged, or otherwise stopped.

   The words choked in her throat.

noun

1. the act or sound of choking.

2. a mechanism by which the air supply to the carburetor of an internal-combustion engine can be diminished or stopped.

3. Machinery.,  any mechanism that, by blocking a passage, regulates the flow of air, gas, etc.

4. Electricity.,  choke coil.

5. a narrowed part, as in a chokebore.

6. the bristly upper portion of the receptacle of the artichoke.

verb phrase

1. choke up

   1. to become or cause to become speechless, as from the effect of emotion or stress.

      She choked up over the sadness of the tale.

   2. to become too tense or nervous to perform well.

      Our team began to choke up in the last inning.

2. choke off,  to stop or obstruct by or as by choking.

   to choke off a nation's fuel supply.

choke

/ tʃəʊk /

verb

1. (tr) to hinder or stop the breathing of (a person or animal), esp by constricting the windpipe or by asphyxiation

2. (intr) to have trouble or fail in breathing, swallowing, or speaking

3. (tr) to block or clog up (a passage, pipe, street, etc)

4. (tr) to retard the growth or action of

   the weeds are choking my plants

5. (tr) to suppress (emotion)

   she choked her anger

6. slang,  (intr) to die

7. (tr) to enrich the petrol-air mixture by reducing the air supply to (a carburettor, petrol engine, etc)

8. (intr) (esp in sport) to be seized with tension and fail to perform well

noun

1. the act or sound of choking

2. a device in the carburettor of a petrol engine that enriches the petrol-air mixture by reducing the air supply

3. any constriction or mechanism for reducing the flow of a fluid in a pipe, tube, etc

4. Also called: choke coil. electronics an inductor having a relatively high impedance, used to prevent the passage of high frequencies or to smooth the output of a rectifier

5. the inedible centre of the head of an artichoke

Other Word Forms

• chokeable adjective
• interchoke verb (used with object)
• unchokeable adjective
• unchoked adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of choke¹

1150–1200; Middle English choken, cheken, variant of achoken, acheken, Old English ācēocian to suffocate; akin to Old Norse kōk gullet

Word History and Origins

Origin of choke¹

Old English ācēocian, of Germanic origin; related to _cheek

Example Sentences

Holed up in the caravan park her family owns, Emily White's voice choked up as she explained her fear and surprise.

From BBC

One relative said he told her that Mrs Arter had choked but others said they were told he had woken up to find her dead.

From BBC

"Please remember Fletcher for the person he was and not the act that ended his life," he continued, choking back tears.

From BBC

Freed from her cell by another prisoner, Goonei stumbled into thick, choking smoke.

From BBC

The video appears to show Hood as he leaps toward her and begins to choke her.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• clog 
• congest 
• drown 
• fill 
• gag 
• gasp 
• kill 
• stifle 
• strangle 
• suffocate