choke

American  

[chohk] / tʃoʊk /

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 ).

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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 British  

/ 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

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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

Etymology

Origin of choke

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

Example Sentences

The second they broke the surface, Chase took a deep breath of air and started choking.

From Literature

He choked and coughed as the oxygen rushed into his lungs, but he did not regain consciousness.

From Literature

While at times the show has caused me to choke up slightly, I find myself more so tearful that the magic of my kids’ childhoods is passing by.

From The Wall Street Journal

A popular French bakery brand has issued a recall of some chocolate-and-hazelnut-filled brioches over concerns they may pose a choking hazard.

From BBC

At Thanksgiving dinner after Pa said grace, Ma choked up and got tears in her eyes.

From Literature

Related Words

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