choke

English

/t͡ʃəʊk/, /t͡ʃoʊk/

verb
Definitions
  • (intransitive) To be unable to breathe because of obstruction of the windpipe (for instance food or other objects that go down the wrong way, or fumes or particles in the air that cause the throat to constrict).
  • (transitive) To prevent (someone) from breathing or talking by strangling or filling the windpipe.
  • (transitive) To obstruct (a passage, etc.) by filling it up or clogging it.
  • (transitive) To hinder or check, as growth, expansion, progress, etc.; to kill (a plant by robbing it of nutrients); to extinguish (fire by robbing it of oxygen).
  • (intransitive) To perform badly at a crucial stage of a competition because one is nervous, especially when one is winning.
  • (transitive) To move one's fingers very close to the tip of a pencil, brush or other art tool.
  • (intransitive) To be checked or stopped, as if by choking
  • (transitive) To check or stop (an utterance or voice) as if by choking.
  • (intransitive) To have a feeling of strangulation in one's throat as a result of passion or strong emotion.
  • (transitive) To give (someone) a feeling of strangulation as a result of passion or strong emotion.
  • (transitive) To say (something) with one’s throat constricted (due to emotion, for example).
  • (transitive) To use the choke valve of (a vehicle) to adjust the air/fuel mixture in the engine.
  • (intransitive) To reach a condition of maximum flowrate, due to the flow at the narrowest point of the duct becoming sonic (Ma = 1).
  • To make a choke, as in a cartridge, or in the bore of the barrel of a shotgun.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English choken inherited from Old English ċēocian, ċēoce.

Origin

Old English

ċēoce

Gloss

Timeline

Distribution of cognates by language

Geogrpahic distribution of cognates

Cognates and derived terms