choke

Universal Words verb, noun verb 1 ~ (on sth) to be unable to breathe because the passage to your lungs is blocked or you cannot get enough air; to make sb unable to breathe: [V] He was choking on a piece of toast. * She almost choked to death in the thick fumes. * [VN] Very small toys can choke a baby. 2 [VN] to make sb stop breathing by squeezing their throat SYNSTRANGLE: He may have been choked or poisoned. 3 ~ (with sth) to be unable to speak normally especially because of strong emotion; to make sb feel too emotional to speak normally: [V] His voice was choking with rage. * [VN] Despair choked her words. * 'I can't bear it,' he said in a choked voice. seealsoCHOKED 4 [VN] ~ sth (up) (with sth) to block or fill a passage, space, etc. so that movement is difficult: The pond was choked with rotten leaves. * The roads are choked up with traffic. 5 [V] (AmE, informal) to fail at sth, for example because you are nervous PHRASALVERBS choke sth<->back to try hard to prevent your feelings from showing: to choke back tears / anger / sobs choke sth<->down to swallow sth with difficulty choke sth<->off 1 to prevent or limit sth: High prices have choked off demand. 2 to interrupt sth; to stop sth: Her screams were suddenly choked off. choke out