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.
Instead, with the strait chokehold well into its fourth month and clashes in the war continuing, the Brent crude benchmark is below $100 a barrel.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 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
Earlier this week, the U.S. promised tankers protection through the Persian Gulf, if necessary, assuaging some of the market’s concerns about the effects of a Hormuz chokehold.
From Barron's ● Mar. 6, 2026
DHS and Bovino did not respond to questions about their agents’ preparation or about the chokehold in Charlotte.
From Salon ● Jan. 14, 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.
