Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To interfere with the respiration of by compression or obstruction of the larynx or trachea.
  • intransitive verb To check or slow down the movement, growth, or action of.
  • intransitive verb To block up or obstruct by filling or clogging.
  • intransitive verb To fill up completely; jam.
  • intransitive verb To reduce the air intake of (a carburetor), thereby enriching the fuel mixture.
  • intransitive verb Sports To grip (a bat or racket, for example) at a point nearer the hitting surface.
  • intransitive verb To have difficulty in breathing, swallowing, or speaking.
  • intransitive verb To become blocked up or obstructed.
  • intransitive verb Sports To shorten one's grip on the handle of a bat or racket. Often used with up.
  • intransitive verb To fail to perform effectively because of nervous agitation or tension, especially in an athletic contest.
  • noun The act or sound of choking.
  • noun Something that constricts or chokes.
  • noun A slight narrowing of the barrel of a shotgun serving to concentrate the shot.
  • noun A device used in an internal-combustion engine to enrich the fuel mixture by reducing the flow of air to the carburetor.
  • noun The fibrous inedible center of an artichoke head.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To stop the breath of by preventing access of air to the windpipe; suffocate; stifle.
  • Specifically To deprive of the power of breathing, either temporarily or permanently, by stricture of or obstruction in the windpipe; constrict or stop up the windpipe of so as to hinder or prevent breathing; strangle.
  • To stop by filling; obstruct; block up: often with up: as, to choke up the entrance of a harbor or any passage.
  • To hinder by obstruction or impediments; overpower, hinder, or check the growth, expansion, or progress of; stifle; smother.
  • To suppress or stifle.
  • To offend greatly; revolt.
  • Same as choke-bore.
  • To stifle or suffocate, as by obstruction and pressure in hastily swallowing food, or by irritation of the air-passages when fluids are accidentally admitted there.
  • To be checked as if by choking; stick.
  • noun In India, an open place or wide street, in the middle of a city, where the market is held.
  • To stop or cease working: said of electrical apparatus.
  • noun The constriction of the bore of a choke-bored gun.—
  • noun The neck or portion of a rocket where the stick is attached.—
  • noun The tie at the end of a cartridge.
  • noun plural Tonsillitis.
  • noun The filamentous or capillary part of the artichoke.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb To have the windpipe stopped; to have a spasm of the throat, caused by stoppage or irritation of the windpipe; to be strangled.
  • intransitive verb To be checked, as if by choking; to stick.
  • noun A stoppage or irritation of the windpipe, producing the feeling of strangulation.
  • noun The tied end of a cartridge.
  • noun A constriction in the bore of a shotgun, case of a rocket, etc.
  • transitive verb To render unable to breathe by filling, pressing upon, or squeezing the windpipe; to stifle; to suffocate; to strangle.
  • transitive verb To obstruct by filling up or clogging any passage; to block up.
  • transitive verb To hinder or check, as growth, expansion, progress, etc.; to stifle.
  • transitive verb To affect with a sense of strangulation by passion or strong feeling.
  • transitive verb To make a choke, as in a cartridge, or in the bore of the barrel of a shotgun.
  • transitive verb to stop a person in the execution of a purpose; as, to choke off a speaker by uproar.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb intransitive To be unable to breathe because of obstruction of the windpipe, for instance food or other objects that go down the wrong way.
  • verb transitive To prevent someone from breathing by strangling them.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English choken, short for achoken, from Old English āceōcian : ā-, intensive pref. + cēoce, cēace, jaw, cheek.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English choken (also cheken), from Old English *ċēocian, āċēocian ("to choke"), probably derived from Old English ċēoce, ċēace ("jaw, cheek"), see cheek. Cognate with Icelandic kok ("throat"), koka ("to gulp"). See also achoke.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word choke.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.