CHOKE

Pronunciation (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does choke mean? 

• CHOKE (noun)
  The noun CHOKE has 2 senses:

1. a coil of low resistance and high inductance used in electrical circuits to pass direct current and attenuate alternating current
2. a valve that controls the flow of air into the carburetor of a gasoline engine

  Familiarity information: CHOKE used as a noun is rare.

• CHOKE (verb)
  The verb CHOKE has 14 senses:

1. breathe with great difficulty, as when experiencing a strong emotion
2. be too tight; rub or press
3. wring the neck of
4. constrict (someone's) throat and keep from breathing
5. struggle for breath; have insufficient oxygen intake
6. fail to perform adequately due to tension or agitation
7. check or slow down the action or effect of
8. become or cause to become obstructed
9. impair the respiration of or obstruct the air passage of
10. become stultified, suppressed, or stifled
11. suppress the development, creativity, or imagination of
12. pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life
13. reduce the air supply
14. cause to retch or choke

  Familiarity information: CHOKE used as a verb is familiar.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CHOKE (noun)

Sense 1

choke [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

choke; choke coil; choking coil

Hypernyms ("choke" is a kind of...):

coil (reactor consisting of a spiral of insulated wire that introduces inductance into a circuit)

Holonyms ("choke" is a part of...):

circuit; electric circuit; electrical circuit (an electrical device that provides a path for electrical current to flow)

Sense 2

choke [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("choke" is a kind of...):

valve (control consisting of a mechanical device for controlling the flow of a fluid)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "choke"):

automatic choke (a choke that automatically controls the flow of air to the carburetor)

Holonyms ("choke" is a part of...):

fuel system (equipment in a motor vehicle or aircraft that delivers fuel to the engine)

• CHOKE (verb)

Sense 1

choke [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

Breathe with great difficulty, as when experiencing a strong emotion

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Context example:

She choked with emotion when she spoke about her deceased husband

Hypernyms (to "choke" is one way to...):

breathe; respire; suspire; take a breath (draw air into, and expel out of, the lungs)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sense 2

choke [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

Be too tight; rub or press

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

choke; gag; fret

Context example:

This neckband is choking the cat

Hypernyms (to "choke" is one way to...):

compact; compress; constrict; contract; press; squeeze (squeeze or press together)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sense 3

choke [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

Wring the neck of

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

scrag; choke

Context example:

The man choked his opponent

Hypernyms (to "choke" is one way to...):

compact; compress; constrict; contract; press; squeeze (squeeze or press together)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 4

choke [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

Constrict (someone's) throat and keep from breathing

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

choke; strangle

Hypernyms (to "choke" is one way to...):

compact; compress; constrict; contract; press; squeeze (squeeze or press together)

Cause:

choke (breathe with great difficulty, as when experiencing a strong emotion)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sense 5

choke [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

Struggle for breath; have insufficient oxygen intake

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

choke; gag; strangle; suffocate

Context example:

he swallowed a fishbone and gagged

Hypernyms (to "choke" is one way to...):

hurt; suffer (feel pain or be in pain)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s on something
Somebody ----s PP

Sense 6

choke [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

Fail to perform adequately due to tension or agitation

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Context example:

The team should have won hands down but choked, disappointing the coach and the audience

Hypernyms (to "choke" is one way to...):

fail; neglect (fail to do something; leave something undone)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sense 7

choke [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

Check or slow down the action or effect of

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Context example:

She choked her anger

Hypernyms (to "choke" is one way to...):

bottle up; suppress (control and refrain from showing; of emotions)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 8

choke [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

Become or cause to become obstructed

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

congest; clog; clog up; choke off; foul; back up; choke

Context examples:

The leaves clog our drains in the Fall / The water pipe is backed up

Hypernyms (to "choke" is one way to...):

block; close up; impede; jam; obstruct; obturate; occlude (block passage through)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "choke"):

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)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 9

choke [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

Impair the respiration of or obstruct the air passage of

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

asphyxiate; suffocate; stifle; choke

Context example:

The foul air was slowly suffocating the children

Hypernyms (to "choke" is one way to...):

block; close up; impede; jam; obstruct; obturate; occlude (block passage through)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Sense 10

choke [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

Become stultified, suppressed, or stifled

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

suffocate; choke

Context example:

He is suffocating--living at home with his aged parents in the small village

Hypernyms (to "choke" is one way to...):

become; turn (undergo a change or development)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sense 11

choke [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

Suppress the development, creativity, or imagination of

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

suffocate; choke

Context example:

His job suffocated him

Hypernyms (to "choke" is one way to...):

dampen; stifle (smother or suppress)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Sense 12

choke [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

give-up the ghost; kick the bucket; pass away; perish; snuff it; drop dead; die; decease; buy the farm; croak; cash in one's chips; pop off; expire; conk; exit; choke; go; pass

Context examples:

She died from cancer / They children perished in the fire / The patient went peacefully / The old guy kicked the bucket at the age of 102

Hypernyms (to "choke" is one way to...):

change state; turn (undergo a transformation or a change of position or action)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "choke"):

succumb; yield (be fatally overwhelmed)

fall (die, as in battle or in a hunt)

famish; starve (die of food deprivation)

predecease (die before; die earlier than)

drown (die from being submerged in water, getting water into the lungs, and asphyxiating)

buy it; pip out (be killed or die)

asphyxiate; stifle; suffocate (be asphyxiated; die from lack of oxygen)

abort (cease development, die, and be aborted)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sense 13

choke [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

Reduce the air supply

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

throttle; choke

Context example:

choke a carburetor

Hypernyms (to "choke" is one way to...):

enrich (make better or improve in quality)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 14

choke [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

Cause to retch or choke

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

gag; choke

Hypernyms (to "choke" is one way to...):

sicken (make sick or ill)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s somebody