choke

[ chohk ]

verb (used with object)

, choked, chok·ing.

1. to stop the breath of by squeezing or obstructing the windpipe; strangle; stifle.
2. to stop by or as if by strangling or stifling:

   The sudden wind choked his words.

3. to stop by filling; obstruct; clog:

   Grease choked the drain.

   Synonyms: plug, dam, block

4. to suppress (a feeling, emotion, etc.) (often followed by back or down ):

   I managed to choke back my tears.

5. to fill chock-full:

   The storeroom was choked with furniture.

6. to seize (a log, felled tree, etc.) with a chain, cable, or the like, so as to facilitate removal.
7. to enrich the fuel mixture of (an internal-combustion engine) by diminishing the air supply to the carburetor.
8. 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.

1. to suffer from or as from strangling or suffocating:

   He choked on a piece of food.

2. to become obstructed, clogged, or otherwise stopped:

   The words choked in her throat.

noun

1. the act or sound of choking.
2. a mechanism by which the air supply to the carburetor of an internal-combustion engine can be diminished or stopped.
3. Machinery. any mechanism that, by blocking a passage, regulates the flow of air, gas, etc.
4. Electricity. choke coil.
5. a narrowed part, as in a chokebore.
6. the bristly upper portion of the receptacle of the artichoke.

verb phrase

1. 1. to become or cause to become speechless, as from the effect of emotion or stress:

      She choked up over the sadness of the tale.

   2. to become too tense or nervous to perform well:

      Our team began to choke up in the last inning.

2. to stop or obstruct by or as by choking:

   to choke off a nation's fuel supply.

choke

/ tʃəʊk /

verb

1. tr to hinder or stop the breathing of (a person or animal), esp by constricting the windpipe or by asphyxiation
2. intr to have trouble or fail in breathing, swallowing, or speaking
3. tr to block or clog up (a passage, pipe, street, etc)
4. tr to retard the growth or action of

   the weeds are choking my plants

5. tr to suppress (emotion)

   she choked her anger

6. slang.
   intr to die
7. tr to enrich the petrol-air mixture by reducing the air supply to (a carburettor, petrol engine, etc)
8. intr (esp in sport) to be seized with tension and fail to perform well

noun

1. the act or sound of choking
2. a device in the carburettor of a petrol engine that enriches the petrol-air mixture by reducing the air supply
3. any constriction or mechanism for reducing the flow of a fluid in a pipe, tube, etc
4. Also calledchoke 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
5. the inedible centre of the head of an artichoke

Derived Forms

• ˈchokeable, adjective

Other Words From

• chokea·ble adjective
• inter·choke verb (used with object) interchoked interchoking
• un·chokea·ble adjective
• un·choked adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of choke¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of choke¹

Old English ācēocian, of Germanic origin; related to cheek

Example Sentences

You could also seek out countries with internet choke points that slow or make Wi-Fi use pointless and frustrating.

From Ozy

Instead, the growing costs of sustaining Moore’s Law have encouraged consolidation among chipmakers and created more choke points in the immensely complex business of chip production.

From MIT Technology Review

Of all the choke points, it was my least favorite to pass through, and when I did so as a ship captain I was up and awake all night.

From Time

The family was told her handcuffed son reached for an officer’s gun, prompting them to put him in a choke hold–a maneuver Minneapolis police finally banned last June.

From Time

Other than the thorny tips of the petals, the only other part of the artichoke that should be completely discarded is the hairy choke, which sits atop that meaty heart deep in its center.

From Washington Post

He then began to choke her, and as she lost consciousness it must have seemed that his might be the last face she would ever see.

From The Daily Beast

According to their friend, producer/filmmaker Choke No Joke, it was over a mutual flame.

From The Daily Beast

Shiomura continued to speak even though she had to choke back tears at one point.

From The Daily Beast

A new Kimberley Process working group to monitor CAR might help focus attention on the guilty and choke the diamond flow.

From The Daily Beast

But for a movie that choke-holds you in suspense from the very first scene, Cold in July is also surprisingly funny.

From The Daily Beast

It's good for nothing but to choke a man and fill him full of smoke and embers.

From Project Gutenberg

He felt that to eat would choke him, but forced himself to take a sip of coffee and a bit of corn bread.

From Project Gutenberg

There was another choke in her voice as she smoothed Judy's old brown dress, and brushed a bit of bran from her face.

From Project Gutenberg

The spoondrift began to fly so that you could not see the moon, and the wind was enough to choke you if you faced it.

From Project Gutenberg

Hester fiercely bit her lip and gulped down the tears that threatened to choke her.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• clog
• congest
• drown
• fill
• gag
• gasp
• kill
• stifle
• strangle
• suffocate