Chokefull

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Packed so tightly with people or things that no more can fit inside
2. Filled right to the brim with something, leaving no room to spare
3. Crammed full of items, people or material until the space is overflowing

Etymology: "Chokefull" is simply another spelling of "chock full," and its earliest recorded form is Middle English "chokkeful," meaning "crammed full," dating from around 1400. Its ancestry is disputed. One suggestion links it to "choke" in the sense of "cheek," so that to be chock full was to have your cheeks stuffed, as with food. The other proposed source is Old French "choquier," meaning "collide, crash, hit," which would tie it to the same family as "shock." Neither theory is settled. The familiar spelling "chock-a-block" is a later development, shaped by association with "chock," a word from carpentry and shipbuilding for a wedge or block used to stop something moving. That association is what gave the phrase its nautical-sounding extension.

Synonyms: chock-full, brimful, jam-packed

Antonyms: empty, vacant