choke

Plural: chokes

Noun

• a coil of low resistance and high inductance used in electrical circuits to pass direct current and attenuate alternating current
• a valve that controls the flow of air into the carburetor of a gasoline engine
• A control on a carburetor to adjust the air/fuel mixture when the engine is cold.
• In wrestling, karate (etc.), a type of hold that can result in strangulation.
• A constriction at the muzzle end of a shotgun barrel which affects the spread of the shot.
• A partial or complete blockage (of boulders, mud, etc.) in a cave passage.
• A choking coil.
• A major mistake at a crucial stage of a competition because one is nervous, especially when one is winning.
• The mass of immature florets in the centre of the bud of an artichoke.

Verb

Verb Forms: choked, choking, chokes

• To obstruct breathing; to prevent passage through.
• breathe with great difficulty, as when experiencing a strong emotion
  • "She choked with emotion when she spoke about her deceased husband"
• be too tight; rub or press
• wring the neck of
  • "The man choked his opponent"
• constrict (someone's) throat and keep from breathing
• struggle for breath; have insufficient oxygen intake
• fail to perform adequately due to tension or agitation
  • "The team should have won hands down but choked, disappointing the coach and the audience"
• check or slow down the action or effect of
  • "She choked her anger"
• become or cause to become obstructed
• impair the respiration of or obstruct the air passage of
• become stultified, suppressed, or stifled
• suppress the development, creativity, or imagination of
• pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life
• reduce the air supply
  • "choke a carburetor"
• cause to retch or choke
• 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).
• To prevent (someone) from breathing or talking by strangling or filling the windpipe.
• To obstruct (a passage, etc.) by filling it up or clogging it.
• 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).
• To perform badly at a crucial stage of a competition, especially when one appears to be clearly winning.
• To move one's fingers very close to the tip of a pencil, brush or other art tool.
• To hold the club or bat lower on the shaft in order to shorten one's swing.
• To be checked or stopped, as if by choking
• To check or stop (an utterance or voice) as if by choking.
• To have a feeling of strangulation in one's throat as a result of passion or strong emotion.
• To give (someone) a feeling of strangulation as a result of passion or strong emotion.
• To say (something) with one’s throat constricted (due to emotion, for example).
• To use the choke valve of (a vehicle) to adjust the air/fuel mixture in the engine.
• To reach a condition of maximum flowrate, due to the flow at the narrowest point of the duct becoming sonic (Ma = 1).
• To make or install a choke, as in a cartridge, or in the bore of the barrel of a shotgun.

Examples

• Ever since he choked on a bone, he has refused to eat fish.
• He has a lot of talent, but he tends to choke under pressure.
• Playing a defensive word can choke off your opponent’s access to bonus squares.
• The collar of this shirt is too tight; it’s choking me.
• to choke a cave passage with boulders and mud

Synonyms

asphyxiate, back up, buy the farm, cash in one's chips, choke coil, choke off, choking coil, clog, clog up, congest, conk, croak, decease, die, drop dead, exit, expire, foul, fret, gag, give-up the ghost, go, kick the bucket, pass, pass away, perish, pop off, scrag, snuff it, stifle, strangle, suffocate, throttle, block up, bung up, choke out, jam, obstruct, stick, stop up

Antonyms

be born, unclog

Anagrams of choke