from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Choke \Choke\ (ch[=o]k), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Choked}; p. pr. &
vb. n. {Choking}.] [OE. cheken, choken; cf. AS. [=a]ceocian
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.
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With eager feeding food doth choke the feeder.
--Shak.
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2. To obstruct by filling up or clogging any passage; to
block up. --Addison.
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3. To hinder or check, as growth, expansion, progress, etc.;
to stifle.
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Oats and darnel choke the rising corn. --Dryden.
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4. To affect with a sense of strangulation by passion or
strong feeling. "I was choked at this word." --Swift.
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5. To make a choke, as in a cartridge, or in the bore of the
barrel of a shotgun.
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{To choke off}, to stop a person in the execution of a
purpose; as, to choke off a speaker by uproar.
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