choke

[chohk] /tʃoʊk/
verb (used with object), choked, choking.
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.
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, choking.
9.
to suffer from or as from strangling or suffocating:
He choked on a piece of food.
10.
to become obstructed, clogged, or otherwise stopped:
The words choked in her throat.
noun
11.
the act or sound of choking.
12.
a mechanism by which the air supply to the carburetor of an internal-combustion engine can be diminished or stopped.
13.
Machinery. any mechanism that, by blocking a passage, regulates the flow of air, gas, etc.
14.
Electricity, choke coil.
15.
a narrowed part, as in a chokebore.
16.
the bristly upper portion of the receptacle of the artichoke.
Verb phrases
17.
choke off, to stop or obstruct by or as by choking:
to choke off a nation's fuel supply.
18.
choke up,
  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.
Origin
1150-1200; Middle English choken, cheken, variant of achoken, acheken, Old English ācēocian to suffocate; akin to Old Norse kōk gullet
Related forms
chokeable, adjective
interchoke, verb (used with object), interchoked, interchoking.
unchokeable, adjective
unchoked, adjective
Synonyms
3. block, dam, plug.
British Dictionary definitions for choke up

choke up

verb (transitive, adverb)
1.
to block (a drain, pipe, etc) completely
2.
(informal) (usually passive) to overcome (a person) with emotion, esp without due cause

choke

/tʃəʊk/
verb
1.
(transitive) to hinder or stop the breathing of (a person or animal), esp by constricting the windpipe or by asphyxiation
2.
(intransitive) to have trouble or fail in breathing, swallowing, or speaking
3.
(transitive) to block or clog up (a passage, pipe, street, etc)
4.
(transitive) to retard the growth or action of: the weeds are choking my plants
5.
(transitive) to suppress (emotion): she choked her anger
6.
(intransitive) (slang) to die
7.
(transitive) to enrich the petrol-air mixture by reducing the air supply to (a carburettor, petrol engine, etc)
8.
(intransitive) (esp in sport) to be seized with tension and fail to perform well
noun
9.
the act or sound of choking
10.
a device in the carburettor of a petrol engine that enriches the petrol-air mixture by reducing the air supply
11.
any constriction or mechanism for reducing the flow of a fluid in a pipe, tube, etc
12.
(electronics) Also called choke coil. an inductor having a relatively high impedance, used to prevent the passage of high frequencies or to smooth the output of a rectifier
13.
the inedible centre of the head of an artichoke
See also choke back, choke up
Derived Forms
chokeable, adjective
Word Origin
Old English ācēocian, of Germanic origin; related to cheek
Word Origin and History for choke up

choke

v.

c.1300, transitive, "to strangle;" late 14c., "to make to suffocate," of persons as well as swallowed objects, a shortening of acheken (c.1200), from Old English aceocian "to choke, suffocate" (with intensive a-), probably from root of ceoke "jaw, cheek" (see cheek (n.)).

Intransitive sense from c.1400. Meaning "gasp for breath" is from early 15c. Figurative use from c.1400, in early use often with reference to weeds stifling the growth of useful plants (a Biblical image). Meaning "to fail in the clutch" is attested by 1976, American English. Related: Choked; choking. Choke-cherry (1785) supposedly so called for its astringent qualities. Johnson also has choke-pear "Any aspersion or sarcasm, by which another person is put to silence." Choked up "overcome with emotion and unable to speak" is attested by 1896. The baseball batting sense is by 1907.

n.

1560s, "quinsy," from choke (v.). Meaning "action of choking" is from 1839. Meaning "valve which controls air to a carburetor" first recorded 1926.

choke up in Medicine

choke (chōk)
v. choked, chok·ing, chokes

  1. To interfere with the respiration of by compression or obstruction of the larynx or trachea.

  2. To have difficulty in breathing, swallowing, or speaking.

Slang definitions & phrases for choke up

choke up

verb phrase
  1. To become tense and ineffective under pressure; choke, swallow the apple, take the pipe: He choked up, lost his concentration, and got clobbered in the third (1940s+ Sports)
  2. To hold the bat high on the handle, in effect shortening the bat (1940s+ Baseball)
  3. o cause one to be speechless with pleasure: Your new book doesn't exactly choke me up (1960s+)
  4. To become speechless with grief (1960s+)

choke

verb

To become ineffective because of tension or anxiety; choke up: I studied all night for my test and I totally choked (1980s+)


Idioms and Phrases with choke up

choke up

.
Block a channel or other passage, as in Vegetation choked up the creek like a dam. [ Late 1600s ]
.
Be too emotional or upset to speak, as in She became so emotional about winning that she choked up and was unable to give an interview.
.
Become too nervous or tense in a critical situation to perform, as in He's fine during practice but in a match he tends to choke up. This usage, also put as to choke alone, is especially common in sports. [ ; mid-1900s ]