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Webster 1913 Edition

Choke

Choke

(chōk)
,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Choked
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Choking
.]
[OE.
cheken
,
choken
; cf. AS.
āceocian
to suffocate, Icel.
koka
to gulp, E.
chincough
,
cough
.]
1.
To render unable to breathe by filling, pressing upon, or squeezing the windpipe; to stifle; to suffocate; to strangle.
With eager feeding food doth
choke
the feeder.
Shakespeare
2.
To obstruct by filling up or clogging any passage; to block up.
Addison.
3.
To hinder or check, as growth, expansion, progress, etc.; to stifle.
Oats and darnel
choke
the rising corn.
Dryden.
4.
To affect with a sense of strangulation by passion or strong feeling.
“I was choked at this word.”
Swift.
5.
To make a choke, as in a cartridge, or in the bore of the barrel of a shotgun.
To choke off
,
to stop a person in the execution of a purpose; as, to choke off a speaker by uproar.

Choke

,
Verb.
I.
1.
To have the windpipe stopped; to have a spasm of the throat, caused by stoppage or irritation of the windpipe; to be strangled.
2.
To be checked, as if by choking; to stick.
The words
choked
in his throat.
Sir W. Scott.

Choke

,
Noun.
1.
A stoppage or irritation of the windpipe, producing the feeling of strangulation.
2.
(Gun.)
(a)
The tied end of a cartridge.
(b)
A constriction in the bore of a shotgun, case of a rocket, etc.

Webster 1828 Edition

Choke

CHOKE

, v.t.
1.
To stop the passage of the breath, by filling the windpipe or compressing the neck. The word is used to express a temporary or partial stoppage, as to choke with dirt or smoke; or an entire stoppage that causes death; to suffocate; to strangle. Mark 5.
2.
To stop by filling; to obstruct; to block up; as, to choke the entrance of a harbor, or any passage.
3.
To hinder by obstruction or impediments; to hinder or check growth, expansion, or progress; as, to choke plants; to choke the spreading of the fruit.
Thorns choke them. Matt 13. Luke 8.
4.
To smother or suffocate, as fire.
5.
To suppress or stifle; as, to choke the strong conception.
6.
To offend; to cause to take an exception; as, I was choked at this word.
We observe that this word generally implies crowding, stuffing or covering. A channel is choked by stones and sand, but not by a boom.

CHOKE

,
Verb.
I.
1.
To have the wind-pipe stopped; as, cattle are apt to choke when eating potatoes.
2.
To be offended; to take exceptions.

CHOKE

,
Noun.
The filamentous or capillary part of the artichoke.

Definition 2024

choke

choke

See also: chớ kể

English

Alternative forms

Verb

choke ‎(third-person singular simple present chokes, present participle choking, simple past and past participle choked)

  1. (intransitive) To be unable to breathe because of obstruction of the windpipe, for instance food or other objects that go down the wrong way.
  2. (transitive) To prevent someone from breathing by strangling or filling the windpipe.
    • Shakespeare
      With eager feeding food doth choke the feeder.
  3. To obstruct by filling up or clogging any passage; to block up.
    to choke a cave passage with boulders and mud
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Addison to this entry?)
  4. To hinder or check, as growth, expansion, progress, etc.; to stifle.
    • Dryden
      Oats and darnel choke the rising corn.
  5. (intransitive, fluid mechanics, of a duct) to reach a condition of maximum flowrate, due to the flow at the narrowest point of the duct becoming sonic (Ma = 1).
  6. (intransitive) To perform badly at a crucial stage of a competition because one is nervous, especially when one is winning.
  7. To move one's fingers very close to the tip of a pencil, brush or other art tool.
  8. To be checked, as if by choking; to stick.
    • Sir Walter Scott
      The words choked in his throat.
  9. To affect with a sense of strangulation by passion or strong feeling.
    • Jonathan Swift
      I was choked at this word.
  10. To make a choke, as in a cartridge, or in the bore of the barrel of a shotgun.

Translations

Noun

choke ‎(plural chokes)

  1. A control on a carburetor to adjust the air/fuel mixture when the engine is cold.
  2. (sports) In wrestling, karate (etc.), a type of hold that can result in strangulation.
  3. A constriction at the muzzle end of a shotgun barrel which affects the spread of the shot.
  4. A partial or complete blockage (of boulders, mud, etc.) in a cave passage.
  5. The mass of immature florets in the centre of the bud of an artichoke.
  6. (electronics) choking coil

Translations

Derived terms

See also

Etymology

From Middle English choken (also cheken), from Old English *ċēocian, āċēocian ‎(“to choke”), probably derived from Old English ċēoce, ċēace ‎(“jaw, cheek”), see cheek. Cognate with Icelandic kok ‎(“throat”), koka ‎(“to gulp”). See also achoke.

Pronunciation

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