choke

American  

[chohk] / tʃoʊk /

verb (used with object)

• chokes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• choked,
  past participle,  past
• choking
  present participle

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)

• chokes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• choked,
  past participle,  past
• choking
  present participle

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

Derived Forms

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

Inflected Forms

Participles

• choking
  present
• choked
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• choke
  simple
• chokes
  simple
• have choked
  perfect
• has choked
  perfect
• am choking
  progressive
• are choking
  progressive
• is choking
  progressive
• have been choking
  perfect progressive
• has been choking
  perfect progressive

Past

• choked
  simple
• had choked
  perfect
• was choking
  progressive
• were choking
  progressive
• had been choking
  perfect progressive

Future

• will choke
  simple
• will have choked
  perfect
• will be choking
  progressive
• will have been choking
  perfect progressive

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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

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Explanation

When you choke, you are suddenly unable to breathe, often because something is stuck in your throat. Your dad's rude joke might make you gasp and choke on your grilled cheese sandwich. You might choke in a smoky room, or choke on a grape that's lodged halfway down your throat. In either case, your body can't get enough oxygen. People also choke up with emotion, figuratively choking on their sobs. Likewise, a child might complain, "This scarf chokes me!" — it's uncomfortably tight, but he's not literally unable to breathe. When the weeds in your garden outnumber the vegetables, you can also say they choke, or crowd, your plants.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

choke chokes choked choking

Pjetri said: "Unless they choke the second-hand tool market, this problem will always be there."

From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2026

If rates go high enough, it could even choke off the current economic expansion.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 24, 2026

Evidence shows that rising temperatures choke economic activity, and that climate inaction imperils growth.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026

“I’ve got great reservations and deep doubts about the effect of the new plan to get rid of all parking and choke traffic down to one lane,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026

There’s a knock on my door, and I choke out, “Come in,” between giggles and snorts.

From "A Good Kind of Trouble" by Lisa Moore Ramée

Gas markets are facing a major squeeze, with liquefied-natural-gas output set for its steepest annual decline on record as the Iran war chokes off supplies and intensifies competition among importers, the International Energy Agency said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2026

Swap out your air filter: A clogged filter chokes airflow, forcing your AC to guzzle more power to do the same job.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 29, 2026

Doctors must administer high doses of Eisai/Biogen’s Leqembi and Lilly’s Kisunla, because only a fraction of 1% of the infused antibodies reach the amyloid plaque that chokes brain cells in Alzheimer’s.

From Barron's ● Jun. 3, 2026

She beams as she talks about the partner who "brought her spark back", but chokes down tears as she explains that in a few days Barry may be gone.

From BBC ● Feb. 13, 2026

A sob chokes its way up my throat and I cover my mouth.

From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam

When we bought the place, I envisioned our children running wild in the backyard under the climbing wisteria, but the wisteria is invasive, and it ate away at our fence and choked the rhododendrons.

From Slate ● Oct. 28, 2026

During his speech Tuesday, Burnham visibly choked up when talking about his late father, who died earlier this month.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026

Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, has relied on the Red Sea ever since Iran's Hormuz blockade choked off its shipments via the Gulf.

From Barron's ● Sep. 11, 2026

Middle East tensions have choked the production and transportation of millions of barrels of oil, causing a surge in the price of car and jet fuels, which are made from oil.

From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026

Cassiopeia howled mournfully as she choked and gasped on the floor.

From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood

As Indonesia battles its worst wildfire season in a decade, a toxic haze is choking millions of residents in the region.

From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026

“Even talking to you right now is really hard,” she said, choking up.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 19, 2026

The school closures came as Malaysia's leader discussed the choking smoke with his Indonesian counterpart and called for an urgent regional meeting.

From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026

"When the number finally arrived, it was larger than the original commitment but still too small to satisfy a market already choking on duration."

From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026

Anya hesitated, not sure what she could do against such a giant bear of a man, when a choking noise wrung itself out of Father Drozdov’s mouth.

From Anya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternack

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Related Words

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

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