Choke (?), v. t. [imp. & p.
p. Choked (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Choking.] [OE. cheken, choken; cf. AS.
āceocian to suffocate, Icel. koka to gulp, E.
chincough, cough.] 1. To
render unable to breathe by filling, pressing upon, or squeezing
the windpipe; to stifle; to suffocate; to strangle.
With eager feeding food doth choke the
feeder.
Shak.
2. To obstruct by filling up or clogging
any passage; to block up. Addison.
3. To hinder or check, as growth,
expansion, progress, etc.; to stifle.
Oats and darnel choke the rising corn.
Dryden.
4. To affect with a sense of
strangulation by passion or strong feeling. "I was
choked at this word." Swift.
5. To make a choke, as in a cartridge, or
in the bore of the barrel of a shotgun.
To choke off, to stop a person in the
execution of a purpose; as, to choke off a speaker by
uproar.
Choke, v. i. 1.
To have the windpipe stopped; to have a spasm of the throat,
caused by stoppage or irritation of the windpipe; to be
strangled.
2. To be checked, as if by choking; to
stick.
The words choked in his throat.
Sir W. Scott.
Choke, n. 1. A
stoppage or irritation of the windpipe, producing the feeling of
strangulation.
2. (Gun.) (a) The
tied end of a cartridge. (b) A
constriction in the bore of a shotgun, case of a rocket,
etc.
