Other forms: choking, choked, chokes
To choke is to be unable to breathe because something blocks the throat. Choke on a bone, choking hazard, he was choking.
Somebody choking cannot speak or cough, which is the sign — a person coughing loudly still has an airway. Back blows and abdominal thrusts are the standard response. In sport, to choke means to fail under pressure. A car's choke enriched the fuel mixture.
1verbchokeTo be unable to breathe because something blocks the throat.
“He started to choke on a fish bone, and a waiter rushed to help.”
2verbfailTo fail under pressure.
“He was leading the golf tournament but choked on the final hole.”
choke is a blocking of the airway.
Old English aceocian, probably from ceoce, the jaw or cheek.
Old English
āċēocian — to choke
Middle English
choken
English, today
choke
Built from
From Middle English choken (also cheken), from earlier acheken, from Old English 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.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA