choke

When you choke, you are suddenly unable to breathe, often because something is stuck in your throat. Your dad's rude joke might make you gasp and choke on your grilled cheese sandwich.

You might choke in a smoky room, or choke on a grape that's lodged halfway down your throat. In either case, your body can't get enough oxygen. People also choke up with emotion, figuratively choking on their sobs. Likewise, a child might complain, "This scarf chokes me!" — it's uncomfortably tight, but he's not literally unable to breathe. When the weeds in your garden outnumber the vegetables, you can also say they choke, or crowd, your plants.

Primary Meanings of choke

1.
 v
struggle for breath; have insufficient oxygen intake
2.
 v
breathe with great difficulty, as when experiencing a strong emotion
3.
 v
be too tight; rub or press
4.
 v
fail to perform adequately due to tension or agitation
5.
 nv
a valve that controls the flow of air into the carburetor of a gasoline engine
reduce the air supply
6.
 n
a coil of low resistance and high inductance used in electrical circuits to pass direct current and attenuate alternating current
Full Definitions of choke
1

v struggle for breath; have insufficient oxygen intake

Synonyms:
gag, strangle, suffocate
Type of:
hurt, suffer
feel pain or be in pain

v impair the respiration of or obstruct the air passage of

Synonyms:
asphyxiate, stifle, suffocate
Type of:
block, close up, impede, jam, obstruct, obturate, occlude
block passage through

v wring the neck of

“The man choked his opponent”
Synonyms:
scrag
Type of:
compact, compress, constrict, contract, press, squeeze
squeeze or press together

v constrict (someone's) throat and keep from breathing

Synonyms:
strangle
Type of:
compact, compress, constrict, contract, press, squeeze
squeeze or press together

v cause to retch or choke

Synonyms:
gag
Type of:
sicken
make sick or ill

v become or cause to become obstructed

Synonyms:
back up, choke off, clog, clog up, congest, foul
Antonyms:
unclog
become or cause to become unobstructed
Types:
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gum up
stick together as if with gum
crap up
become obstructed or chocked up
block, choke up, lug, stuff
obstruct
silt, silt up
become chocked with silt
Type of:
block, close up, impede, jam, obstruct, obturate, occlude
block passage through

v become stultified, suppressed, or stifled

Synonyms:
suffocate
suffocate
suppress the development, creativity, or imagination of
Type of:
become, turn
undergo a change or development

v pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life

Synonyms:
buy the farm, cash in one's chips, conk, croak, decease, die, drop dead, exit, expire, give-up the ghost, go, kick the bucket, pass, pass away, perish, pop off, snuff it
break, break down, conk out, die, fail, give out, give way, go, go bad
stop operating or functioning
die
suffer or face the pain of death
Antonyms:
be born
come into existence through birth
Types:
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abort
cease development, die, and be aborted
asphyxiate, stifle, suffocate
be asphyxiated; die from lack of oxygen
buy it, pip out
be killed or die;
drown
die from being submerged in water, getting water into the lungs, and asphyxiating
predecease
die before; die earlier than
famish, starve
die of food deprivation
fall
die, as in battle or in a hunt
succumb, yield
be fatally overwhelmed
strangle
die from strangulation
Type of:
change state, turn
undergo a transformation or a change of position or action
2

v breathe with great difficulty, as when experiencing a strong emotion

“She choked with emotion when she spoke about her deceased husband”
Type of:
breathe, respire, suspire, take a breath
draw air into, and expel out of, the lungs
3

v be too tight; rub or press

“This neckband is choking the cat”
Synonyms:
fret, gag
Type of:
compact, compress, constrict, contract, press, squeeze
squeeze or press together
4

v fail to perform adequately due to tension or agitation

“The team should have won hands down but choked, disappointing the coach and the audience”
Type of:
fail, neglect
fail to do something; leave something undone

v check or slow down the action or effect of

“She choked her anger”
Type of:
bottle up, inhibit, suppress
control and refrain from showing; of emotions, desires, impulses, or behavior

v suppress the development, creativity, or imagination of

Synonyms:
suffocate
suffocate
become stultified, suppressed, or stifled
Type of:
dampen, stifle
smother or suppress
5

n a valve that controls the flow of air into the carburetor of a gasoline engine

Types:
automatic choke
a choke that automatically controls the flow of air to the carburetor
Type of:
valve
control consisting of a mechanical device for controlling the flow of a fluid

v reduce the air supply

“choke a carburetor”
Synonyms:
throttle
Type of:
enrich
make better or improve in quality
6

n a coil of low resistance and high inductance used in electrical circuits to pass direct current and attenuate alternating current

Synonyms:
choke coil, choking coil
Type of:
coil
reactor consisting of a spiral of insulated wire that introduces inductance into a circuit

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