chokehold
Americannoun
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a restraining hold in which one person encircles the neck of another in a viselike grip with the arm, usually approaching from behind.
The suspect was put in a chokehold and was gasping for breath.
-
a stifling grip; stranglehold.
a company that once had a chokehold over the PC market.
noun
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the act of holding a person's neck across the windpipe, esp from behind using one arm
-
complete power or control
the chokehold the mob has had on the town
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Former Mayor Bill de Blasio signed the restraint law in July 2020, making officers’ use of a chokehold or chest compression a misdemeanor crime punishable by up to a year in prison.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
The working document calls for Iran to ease its chokehold on the strait and for the U.S. to wind back its blockade of Iranian ports during the 30 days of talks, the people said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 7, 2026
Campaign group Big Brother Watch has also called on the company to remove its measures, saying they are a "chokehold on Britons' freedom to search the internet".
From BBC ● May 5, 2026
Conventional wisdom suggests that as a net exporter of petroleum products, the U.S. is relatively immune to Iran-war related oil-price spikes, while China is extremely vulnerable to supply chokehold.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 22, 2026
In order to have standing, the Court reasoned, Lyons would have to show that he was highly likely to be subject to a chokehold again.
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
