choke

[chohk]

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verb (used with object), choked, chok·ing.

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

to stop by or as if by strangling or stifling: The sudden wind choked his words.

to stop by filling; obstruct; clog: Grease choked the drain.

to suppress (a feeling, emotion, etc.) (often followed by back or down): I managed to choke back my tears.

to fill chock-full: The storeroom was choked with furniture.

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

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

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 by up).

verb (used without object), choked, chok·ing.

to suffer from or as from strangling or suffocating: He choked on a piece of food.

to become obstructed, clogged, or otherwise stopped: The words choked in her throat.

noun

the act or sound of choking.

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

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

Electricity. choke coil.

a narrowed part, as in a chokebore.

the bristly upper portion of the receptacle of the artichoke.

Verb Phrases

choke off, to stop or obstruct by or as by choking: to choke off a nation's fuel supply.

choke up,

to become or cause to become speechless, as from the effect of emotion or stress: She choked up over the sadness of the tale.
to become too tense or nervous to perform well: Our team began to choke up in the last inning.

Origin of choke

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

Related formschoke·a·ble, adjectivein·ter·choke, verb (used with object), in·ter·choked, in·ter·chok·ing.un·choke·a·ble, adjectiveun·choked, adjective

Synonyms for choke

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3. block, dam, plug.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for choke off

decelerate, handicap, lessen, impede, crimp, hamper, muzzle, subdue, mute, muffle, gag, quell, quash, suppress, squelch, stifle, suspend, bar, avoid, stall

British Dictionary definitions for choke off

choke

verb

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

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

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

(tr) to retard the growth or action ofthe weeds are choking my plants

(tr) to suppress (emotion)she choked her anger

(intr) slang to die

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

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

noun

the act or sound of choking

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

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

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

the inedible centre of the head of an artichoke

Word Origin for choke

Old English ācēocian, of Germanic origin; related to cheek

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for choke off

choke

c.1300, transitive, "to strangle;" late 14c., "to make to suffocate," of persons as well as swallowed objects, a shortening of acheken (c.1200), from Old English aceocian "to choke, suffocate" (with intensive a-), probably from root of ceoke "jaw, cheek" (see cheek (n.)).

Intransitive sense from c.1400. Meaning "gasp for breath" is from early 15c. Figurative use from c.1400, in early use often with reference to weeds stifling the growth of useful plants (a Biblical image). Meaning "to fail in the clutch" is attested by 1976, American English. Related: Choked; choking. Choke-cherry (1785) supposedly so called for its astringent qualities. Johnson also has choke-pear "Any aspersion or sarcasm, by which another person is put to silence." Choked up "overcome with emotion and unable to speak" is attested by 1896. The baseball batting sense is by 1907.

choke

1560s, "quinsy," from choke (v.). Meaning "action of choking" is from 1839. Meaning "valve which controls air to a carburetor" first recorded 1926.

choke off in Medicine

choke

[chōk]

v.

To interfere with the respiration of by compression or obstruction of the larynx or trachea.

To have difficulty in breathing, swallowing, or speaking.

Idioms and Phrases with choke off

choke off

Put a stop to, throttle, as in Higher interest rates are choking off the real estate boom. [Early 1800s]

Stop someone from speaking or complaining, as in Throughout the debate the congressman had to be choked off to give the other candidate a chance to speak. [Slang; late 1800s]