chokehold
/ˈt͡ʃəʊkhəʊld/
"chokehold" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“chokehold” is an uncommon English word, ranked #67,309 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #67,309
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A grappling hold around a person's neck, especially one in which the neck is grasped tightly from behind with an arm, cutting off the flow of blood to the brain and restricting breathing.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | chokehold |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈt͡ʃəʊkhəʊld/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #67,309 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “chokehold” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for chokehold is 9 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈt͡ʃəʊkhəʊld/. Corpus data places it at rank #67,309 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for chokehold, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: The noun is derived from choke (verb) + hold (noun). The verb is derived from the noun. The correct English form is chokehold, spelled C-H-O-K-E-H-O-L-D.
Definition
- 1A grappling hold around a person's neck, especially one in which the neck is grasped tightly from behind with an arm, cutting off the flow of blood to the brain and restricting breathing.
- 2A powerful and restrictive control or influence over something.
Etymology
The noun is derived from choke (verb) + hold (noun). The verb is derived from the noun.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “chokehold”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-H-O-K-E-H-O-L-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈt͡ʃəʊkhəʊld/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.