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| choke [ chōk ] |
verb (past and past participle choked, present participle chok·ing, 3rd person present singular chokes) |
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| Definition: |
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1. intransitive verb stop breathing through blockage of throat: to stop breathing, or breathe with great difficulty, because of a blockage in or restriction of the throat
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2. transitive verb constrict throat of somebody: to prevent somebody from breathing by blocking or squeezing the throat
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3. transitive verb block passage or channel: to form an obstruction in a passage, channel, pipe, or roadway and prevent anything from passing along it
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4. transitive verb prevent plants from growing: to prevent plants from developing by growing over them and depriving them of light and air
  The bed was choked with weeds.
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5. transitive and intransitive verb become too moved to speak: to be overcome with emotion and unable to speak, or make somebody feel so much emotion that he or she cannot speak
(
informal
)
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6. intransitive verb lose nerve and falter: to lose nerve or confidence and falter in the middle of saying or doing something
(
informal
)
He gets ahead, two sets to one, and then he chokes!
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7. intransitive verb refuse to cooperate: to refuse to cooperate when presented with something unacceptable
(
informal
)
We choked on their last demand.
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noun (plural chokes) |
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| Definition: |
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1. noise of choking: a sound or movement made by somebody choking
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2. fuel mixture regulator for engine: a device that controls the ratio of air to fuel in the mixture supplied to an internal-combustion engine
pull the choke out
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| [ Old English ācēocian< cēoce "cheek"] |
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| chok·ing adjective |
| chok·ing·ly adverb |
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