choke back
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.72 in modern English
26
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
1
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To hold back or suppress (an emotion, expression of emotion, or utterance), with difficulty.
Transitive verb
Example Sentences
- "When she slapped me, I tried hard to choke back my tears."
- "He had a cutting retort on the tip of his tongue, but he choked it back."
- "[…] when Di looked at his pinched and pale face in this placid condition, the tears would overflow their natural boundary, and sobs would rise up in her pretty throat, but she choked them back for fear of disturbing her boy."
- "Anne choked back a mad desire to laugh with the conviction that it would be fatal, and then earnestly set about saving Marilla’s reputation."
- "Now it was painful to have to choke back words for fear of his amused grin."
- "Choking back his own fear of the desolate, grassless woodland […], he began."