Definition: choke
Source: WordNet (r) 1.7
choke
n 1: a coil of low resistance and high inductance used in
electrical circuits to pass direct current and attenuate
alternating current [syn: choke coil, choking coil]
2: a valve that controls the flow of air into the carburetor of
a gasoline engine
v 1: breathe with great difficulty, as when experiencing a strong
emotion; "She choked with emotion when she spoke about
her deceased husband"
2: be too tight; rub or press; "This neckband is choking the
cat" [syn: gag, fret]
3: wring the neck of; "The man choked his opponent" [syn: scrag]
4: constrict (someone's) throat and keep from breathing
5: struggle for breath; have insufficient oxygen intake; "he
swallowed a fishbone and gagged" [syn: gag, suffocate]
6: fail to perform adequately due to tension or agitation; "The
team should have won hands down but choked, disappointing
the coach and the audience"
7: check or slow down the action or effect of; "She choked her
anger"
8: become or cause to become obstructed; "The leaves clog our
drains in the Fall"; "The water pipe is backed up" [syn: clog,
choke off, clog up, back up, congest, foul]
[ant: unclog]
9: impair the respiration of or obstruct the air passage of;
"The foul air was slowly suffocating the children" [syn: suffocate,
asphyxiate]
10: die (colloquial); "The old man finally kicked the bucket"
[syn: kick the bucket, buy the farm, conk, drop
dead, pop off, croak, snuff it]
11: reduce the air supply; of carburetors [syn: throttle]
12: cause to retch or choke [syn: gag]
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Choke \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 \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.
Choke \Choke\, 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. 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.
Source: The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (2003-OCT-10)
choke 1. To reject input, often ungracefully. "NULs make System V's "lpr(1)" choke." "I tried building an Emacs binary to use X, but "cpp(1)" choked on all those "#define"s." See barf, gag. 2. [MIT] More generally, to fail at any endeavor, but with some flair or bravado; the popular definition is "to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory." [Jargon File]
Source: Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001)
choke v. 1. [common] To reject input, often ungracefully. "NULs make System V's `lpr(1)' choke." "I tried building an EMACS binary to use X, but `cpp(1)' choked on all those `#define's." See barf, gag, vi. 2. [MIT] More generally, to fail at any endeavor, but with some flair or bravado; the popular definition is "to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory."
