# choke

> English word · Verb · IPA /t͡ʃəʊk/ · frequency rank #10,824

## Definitions
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).
2. To prevent (someone) from breathing or talking by strangling or filling the windpipe.
3. To obstruct (a passage, etc.) by filling it up or clogging it.
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. To perform badly at a crucial stage of a competition, especially when one appears to be clearly winning.
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
9. To check or stop (an utterance or voice) as if by choking.
10. To have a feeling of strangulation in one's throat as a result of passion or strong emotion.
11. To give (someone) a feeling of strangulation as a result of passion or strong emotion.
12. To say (something) with one’s throat constricted (due to emotion, for example).
13. To use the choke valve of (a vehicle) to adjust the air/fuel mixture in the engine.
14. To reach a condition of maximum flowrate, due to the flow at the narrowest point of the duct becoming sonic (Ma = 1).
15. To make or install a choke, as in a cartridge, or in the bore of the barrel of a shotgun.

## Etymology
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.

## Easily confused with
- **Coe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/choke-vs-coe)
- **come** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/choke-vs-come)
- **code** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/choke-vs-code)
- **core** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/choke-vs-core)
- **cook** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/choke-vs-cook)
- **cole** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/choke-vs-cole)
- **coke** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/choke-vs-coke)
- **cope** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/choke-vs-cope)
- **cone** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/choke-vs-cone)
- **chop** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/choke-vs-chop)
- **cove** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/choke-vs-cove)
- **chow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/choke-vs-chow)
- **choo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/choke-vs-choo)
- **chou** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/choke-vs-chou)
- **cote** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/choke-vs-cote)
- **Choy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/choke-vs-choy)
- **close** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/choke-vs-close)
- **chose** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/choke-vs-chose)
- **clone** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/choke-vs-clone)
- **chord** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/choke-vs-chord)

## Common misspellings (7)
`cchoke`, `chhoke`, `chkoe`, `choek`, `chokke`, `cohke`, `hcoke`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/choke