choke

[[t]tʃoʊk[/t]]

v. choked, chok•ing, n.

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[/ex]

3) to stop by filling; obstruct; clog:

Grease choked the drain[/ex]

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

to choke back one's sobs[/ex]

5) to fill to the limit; pack:

The closet was choked with toys[/ex]

6) aum to enrich the fuel mixture of (an internal-combustion engine) by diminishing the air supply to the carburetor

7) spo to grip (a bat, racket, or the like) farther than usual from the end of the handle (often fol. by up)

8) to suffer from or as if from strangling or suffocating:

to choke on a peanut[/ex]

9) to become obstructed, clogged, or otherwise stopped:

The words choked in her throat[/ex]

10) inf to become too tense or nervous to perform well (sometimes fol. by up)

11) cvb phv choke off, to stop or obstruct by or as if by choking:

to choke off a nation's fuel supply[/ex]

12) choke up

phv to become or cause to become speechless, as from emotion or stress

13) the act or sound of choking

14) mac aum any mechanism that regulates flow by blocking a passage, esp. the device in an automotive engine that controls how much air enters the carburetor

15) a narrowed part

16) bot the bristly inner part of an artichoke head

•

Etymology: 1150–1200; ME choken, cheken, var. of achoken, acheken, OE ācēocian to suffocate; akin to ON kōk gullet choke′a•ble, adj.