throttle
/ˈθɹɑtəl/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.47 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A valve that regulates the supply of fuel-air mixture to an internal combustion engine and thus controls its speed; a similar valve that controls the air supply to an engine.
verb
To cut back on the speed of (an engine, person, organization, network connection, etc.).
Transitive verb
verb
To have the throat obstructed so as to be in danger of suffocation; to choke; to suffocate.
Intransitive verb
Example Sentences
- "To my unpractised eye, the undulations in the track were quite imperceptible, but the engineer's hand on the throttle was never still."
- "Then up got Peg, and round the house gan scuttle, / In search of goods her customer to nail, / Until the Sultaun strain'd his princely throttle, / And hollow'd,—"Ma'am, that is not what I ail.["]"
- "Nor took a punch nor given a swing, / But just soaked deady round the ring / Until their brains and bloods were foul / Enough to make their throttles howl, […]"
- "From the cabin came that horrible song: "Here's to the feet wot have walked the plank. Yo ho! for the dead man's throttle.""
- "Grant him this, and the Parliament hath no more freedom than if it sat in his noose, which, when he pleases to draw together with one twitch of his negative, shall throttle a whole nation, to the wish of Caligula, in one neck."
- "I have seen them shiver and look pale, Make periods in the midst of sentences, Throttle their practised accent in their fears."
Etymology
From Middle English *throtel, diminutive of throte (“throat”), equivalent to throat + -le. Compare German Drossel (“throttle”). More at throat.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈθɹɑtəl/
- British English: /ˈθɹɒtəl/
Usage
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
at full throttle
full throttle
full-throttle
throttle body
throttle chop
throttle jockey
throttle steering
throttle valve