throttle
[throt-l]
- Also called throttle lever. a lever, pedal, handle, etc., for controlling or manipulating a throttle valve.
- throttle valve.
- the throat, gullet, or windpipe, as of a horse.
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- to stop the breath of by compressing the throat; strangle.
- to choke or suffocate in any way.
- to compress by fastening something tightly around.
- to silence or check as if by choking: His message was throttled by censorship.
- Machinery.
- to obstruct or check the flow of (a fluid), as to control the speed of an engine.
- to reduce the pressure of (a fluid) by passing it from a smaller area to a larger one.
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- at full throttle, at maximum speed.
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Origin of throttle
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for throttle
Contemporary Examples
When you hit a throttle on a sprint car, the car sets sideways.
But, really, the whole episode was a reminder of how reform can swerve when a government has its foot to the throttle.
Historical Examples
Stan slammed his hatch cover shut and opened up his throttle.
A Yankee Flier Over BerlinAl Avery
He turned the throttle and the car resumed its former speed.
Mary Louise in the CountryL. Frank Baum (AKA Edith Van Dyne)
I grasped the dog around the throat and began to throttle him.
The Bell ToneEdmund H. Leftwich
One day it got loose, flew straight at him, and began trying to throttle him.
Russian Fairy TalesW. R. S. Ralston
The road saves money in having a christian hand on the throttle.
Quiet Talks on PowerS.D. Gordon
throttle
- Also called: throttle valve any device that controls the quantity of fuel or fuel and air mixture entering an engine
- an informal or dialect word for throat
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- to kill or injure by squeezing the throat
- to suppressto throttle the press
- to control or restrict (a flow of fluid) by means of a throttle valve
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Word Origin
C14: throtelen, from throte throat
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 throttle
v.
"strangle to death," c.1400, probably from Middle English throte "throat" (see throat). Related: Throttled; throttling. The noun, in the mechanical sense, is first recorded 1870s, from throttle-valve (1824), but was used earlier as a synonym for "throat" (1540s); it appears to be an independent formation, not derived from the verb.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper