The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

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.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To be checked, as if by choking; to stick.
      [1913 Webster]

            The words choked in his throat.       --Sir W.
                                                  Scott.
      [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Choke \Choke\, n.
   1. A stoppage or irritation of the windpipe, producing the
      feeling of strangulation.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. (Gun.)
      (a) The tied end of a cartridge.
      (b) A constriction in the bore of a shotgun, case of a
          rocket, etc.
          [1913 Webster]

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.
      [1913 Webster]

            With eager feeding food doth choke the feeder.
                                                  --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To obstruct by filling up or clogging any passage; to
      block up. --Addison.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. To hinder or check, as growth, expansion, progress, etc.;
      to stifle.
      [1913 Webster]

            Oats and darnel choke the rising corn. --Dryden.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. To affect with a sense of strangulation by passion or
      strong feeling. "I was choked at this word." --Swift.
      [1913 Webster]

   5. To make a choke, as in a cartridge, or in the bore of the
      barrel of a shotgun.
      [1913 Webster]

   To choke off, to stop a person in the execution of a
      purpose; as, to choke off a speaker by uproar.
      [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

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, 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: choke, gag, fret]
    3: wring the neck of; "The man choked his opponent" [syn:
       choke, scrag]
    4: constrict (someone's) throat and keep from breathing [syn:
       choke, strangle]
    5: struggle for breath; have insufficient oxygen intake; "he
       swallowed a fishbone and gagged" [syn: gag, choke,
       strangle, 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,
       choke, foul] [ant: unclog]
    9: impair the respiration of or obstruct the air passage of;
       "The foul air was slowly suffocating the children" [syn:
       suffocate, stifle, asphyxiate, choke]
    10: become stultified, suppressed, or stifled; "He is
        suffocating--living at home with his aged parents in the
        small village" [syn: suffocate, choke]
    11: suppress the development, creativity, or imagination of;
        "His job suffocated him" [syn: suffocate, choke]
    12: pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and
        functions necessary to sustain life; "She died from cancer";
        "The children perished in the fire"; "The patient went
        peacefully"; "The old guy kicked the bucket at the age of
        102" [syn: die, decease, perish, go, exit, pass
        away, expire, pass, kick the bucket, cash in one's
        chips, buy the farm, conk, give-up the ghost, drop
        dead, pop off, choke, croak, snuff it] [ant: be
        born]
    13: reduce the air supply; "choke a carburetor" [syn: choke,
        throttle]
    14: cause to retch or choke [syn: gag, choke]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

222 Moby Thesaurus words for "choke":
   OD, asphyxia, asphyxiate, asphyxiation, bake, bang, bar, barricade,
   batten, batten down, be in heat, be killed, bind, blaze, block,
   block up, blockade, bloom, blow out, boil, bolt, broil, bung,
   burke, burking, burn, button, button up, caulk, charge, chink,
   chock, choke off, choke up, choking, clap, clog, clog up, close,
   close off, close tight, close up, combust, congest, constipate,
   constrict, contain, contract, cook, cork, cover, cram, crowd,
   cut off, dam, dam up, damp, debar, deny, discourage, dissuade, dog,
   douse, drench, drown, drowning, dumbfound, extinguish, famish,
   fasten, fill, fill up, flame, flame up, flare, flare up, flicker,
   flush, fold, fold up, foul, frustrate, fry, gag, garotte, garrote,
   garrotte, gasp, glow, glut, gluttonize, gorge, heap, hush,
   hush-hush, incandesce, jam, jam-pack, key, killing, latch,
   liver death, load, lock, lock out, lock up, megadeath, muffle,
   muzzle, obstipate, obstruct, obviate, occlude, out, overburden,
   overcharge, overfeed, overfill, overlade, overload, overstuff,
   overweight, pack, padlock, pant, parch, pile, plug, plug up, plumb,
   prohibit, put down, put out, put to silence, quash, quell, quench,
   quiet, quieten, radiate heat, repress, restrain, roast, satiate,
   saturate, scald, scorch, seal, seal off, seal up, secure, seethe,
   serum death, shimmer with heat, shush, shut, shut down on,
   shut off, shut out, shut the door, shut tight, shut up, silence,
   simmer, slack, slam, smolder, smother, smotheration, smothering,
   snap, snuff, snuff out, soak, soft-pedal, spark, spile, squash,
   squeeze, squeeze shut, squelch, stamp out, stanch, starvation,
   starve, stay, steam, stench, stew, stifle, stifling, still, stop,
   stop the breath, stop up, stopper, stopple, strangle, strangling,
   strangulate, strangulation, strike dumb, stuff, stuff up,
   suffocate, suffocation, supercharge, supersaturate, suppress,
   surcharge, surfeit, sweat, swelter, throttle, throttling, toast,
   trample out, trample underfoot, violent death, watery grave,
   zip up, zipper



The Jargon File (version 4.4.7, 29 Dec 2003):

choke
 v.

    [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 #defines.? See barf, vi.


The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (30 December 2018):

choke

    To fail to process input or, more generally, to fail
   at any endeavor.

   E.g. "NULs make System V's "lpr(1)" choke."  See barf,
   gag.

   [Jargon File]

   (2006-09-20)