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Phrase(s): choke up
1. to feel like crying. • I choked up when I heard the news. • He was beginning to choke up as he talked. 2. to become emotional or saddened so that one cannot speak. • I choked up when I heard about the disaster. • I was choking up, and I knew I would not be able to go on., Phrase(s): choke something up
1. to clog something up; to fill up and block something. • Branches and leaves choked the sewer up. • Rust choked up the pipes. 2. to cough or choke until something that has blocked one’s windpipe is brought up. • The old man choked up the candy that was stuck in his windpipe. • He choked up the chunk of meat and could breathe again., Phrase(s): choke someone up
Fig. to cause someone to feel like starting to cry. • Sad stories like that always choke me up. • The movie was sad and it choked up most of the audience.
McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs
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1. Block a channel or other passage, as in Vegetation choked up the creek like a dam. [Late 1600s] 2. Be too emotional or upset to speak, as in She became so emotional about winning that she choked up and was unable to give an interview. 3. Become too nervous or tense in a critical situation to perform, as in He's fine during practice but in a match he tends to choke up. This usage, also put as to choke alone, is especially common in sports. [Colloquial; mid-1900s]
American Heritage Idioms