Choke Meaning
/t͡ʃəʊk/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo 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).
verbTo prevent (someone) from breathing or talking by strangling or filling the windpipe.
Sentence Examples
Carol couldn't choke back her tears.
You have to pace yourself or you'll choke halfway through.
CEFR Practice Quiz
If you eat too fast, a piece of food may ____ you.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Be careful not to ____ on that small piece of hard candy right now.
Word Origin & History
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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Lenore began to choke with the fine dust and to feel her eyes smart and to see it settle on her hands and dress."
— 1919, Zane Grey, chapter 6, in The Desert of Wheat, New York: Grosset & Dunlap, page 66:
"See your brain - Choke, choke, choke
Watch it drain - Choke, choke, choke
See your greed - Choke, choke, choke
Watch it breed - Choke, choke, choke
Fake, you're falling down
Choke, your neck is broken"
— 1998, “Choke”, in Igor Cavalera, Andreas Kisser (music), Against, performed by Sepultura, Track 2:
"Passengers on the earliest railway services would not even have enjoyed the luxury of a platform, instead having to step up onto the waiting open top wagons, where they would experience a journey that left many choking on the plumes of smoke exhaled by the leading locomotive."
— 2025 July 9, Oliver Wheeler, “Action stations...”, in RAIL, number 1039, page 68:
"With eager feeding food doth choke the feeder:"
— 1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene 1]:
"Then went the devils out of the man, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the lake, and were choked."
— 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 8:33:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
If you eat too fast, a piece of food may ____ you.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Be careful not to ____ on that small piece of hard candy right now.