Choking

Part of speech: verb, adjective

Pronunciation: /ˈtʃəʊkɪŋ/

Definitions

1. Experiencing difficulty breathing because the airway is blocked ; causing someone to suffocate or have trouble breathing ; failing to perform well due to pressure or stress
2. Having the airway partly or fully blocked, making breathing hard ; acting in a way that leads to suffocation ; being unable to succeed when under extreme pressure
3. Struggling to breathe because something blocks the throat ; making another person stop breathing by obstruction ; losing composure and underperforming in a critical moment

Etymology: Choking is the simplest kind of etymology: the verb "choke" with the suffix "-ing" added, so the word is the form used for the action or state of choking. The verb "choke" itself is the older building block, and its meaning of being blocked or obstructed in the throat, and then of failing at a crucial moment, has grown directly out of that sense of being stopped up. The shift from the physical to the figurative is the part worth noticing. A person who "chokes" in sport or on stage is not short of air; they are overcome and lose their grip on the moment, just as a blocked passage stops flow. The same root supports all three senses in the meaning list, from a throat physically obstructed, to someone else being suffocated, to a performer freezing under pressure.

Synonyms: suffocating, strangling, gagging, constricting, stifling

Antonyms: unblocking, relieving, aiding, assisting, helping