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.
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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
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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.
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
Jacqueline Harpman’s “I Who Have Never Known Men,” recently reissued, is a dystopian story that had an unexpected chokehold on me.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 12, 2025
But China currently accounts for roughly one-third of global chip manufacturing — and also possesses a chokehold on critical minerals, such as gallium and germanium, that make chip manufacturing possible.
From MarketWatch • Dec. 12, 2025
The rise of cable loosened the networks’ chokehold on TV news and entertainment in the late 20th century.
From Salon • Sep. 24, 2025
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.
