choke
/t͡ʃoʊk/verb, noun
choke is spelled C-H-O-K-E: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 5.2 times per million words in written English, the 10,843rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, choke means “To be unable to breathe because of obstruction of the windpipe (for instance food or other objects that go down the wrong way, or fumes or particles…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in choke?
| Letters | 5: C-H-O-K-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 5.2 times per million words; the 10,843rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is choke?
Choke appears 5.2 times per million words in written English, the 10,843rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce choke?
- UK /t͡ʃəʊk/
- US /t͡ʃoʊk/
Choke has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-choke.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with choke?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as choke from its last stressed vowel (/oʊk/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of choke
- chokes present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- choking participle, present
- choked participle, past
- choak
- choake
- chock
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does choke mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To be unable to breathe because of obstruction of the windpipe (for instance food or other objects that go down the wrong way, or fumes or particles in the air that cause the throat to constrict).
Ever since he choked on a bone, he has refused to eat fish.
- 2
To prevent (someone) from breathing or talking by strangling or filling the windpipe.
The collar of this shirt is too tight; it’s choking me.
- 3
To obstruct (a passage, etc.) by filling it up or clogging it.
to choke a cave passage with boulders and mud
- 4
To hinder or check, as growth, expansion, progress, etc.; to kill (a plant by robbing it of nutrients); to extinguish (fire by robbing it of oxygen).
- 5
colloquialTo perform badly at a crucial stage of a competition, especially when one appears to be clearly winning.
He has a lot of talent, but he tends to choke under pressure.
- 6
To move one's fingers very close to the tip of a pencil, brush or other art tool.
- 7
To hold the club or bat lower on the shaft in order to shorten one's swing.
- 8
To be checked or stopped, as if by choking
noun
- 1
A control on a carburetor to adjust the air/fuel mixture when the engine is cold.
- 2
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
A choking coil.
- 6
A major mistake at a crucial stage of a competition because one is nervous, especially when one is winning.
- 7
The mass of immature florets in the centre of the bud of an artichoke.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Choke in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | suffoquer, s'étouffer , étouffer, juguler , starter , mainmise |
| German | ersticken, verschlucken , würgen , Choke, Drossel , unterdrücken |
| Portuguese | sufocar, afogar, engasgar , estrangular, esganar, asfixiar |
| Spanish | sofocarse, ahogarse, atragantarse, atorarse, engolliparse, atarugarse |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does choke come 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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).