Choking is being unable to breathe because something blocks the throat. Choking on food, the choking victim, signs of choking.
Somebody genuinely choking cannot speak, cough or breathe, and the universal sign is hands at the throat. Back blows first and then abdominal thrusts is the standard adult sequence in British first aid. Choking is one of the leading causes of accidental death in small children. In sport, choking means failing under pressure, which is a metaphor from the same tightness.
1nounchokingBeing unable to breathe because something blocks the throat.
“The waiter saved a customer from choking by hitting him hard on the back.”
2nounfailingFailing under pressure, in sport.
“The choking happened in roughly the ninth minute.”
choking is an obstruction of breathing.
Old English
āċēocian — to choke
Middle English
choken
English
choke
English, today
choking
Built from
by surface analysis, choke + -ing. choke comes 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