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Glite Dictionary
😰 To fail from nerves 💻 To fail from overload
to choke under pressure

to choke under pressure

1 7.0
Perform badly because of nervousness in an important situation
  • phrasal verb
  • Informal
translation icon : fallar bajo presión
  • 10 ways to make sure you don't choke under pressure:

Examples

  • Many athletes choke under pressure during the championship game.

  • He tends to choke under pressure when facing a difficult exam.

  • Sometimes, performers choke under pressure, which affects their final score.

Synonyms

to choke
vsto choke under pressure
  • Informal
49 6.0

To fail to perform well in an important moment because of nervousness

is a multiword expression stressing failure caused by nerves in critical moments

Antonyms

to come through under pressure
1 4.6

Do well when you feel pressure

How Well

to struggle
851 2.8
to choke under pressure
  • Informal
1 7.0

Surface Forms

choke under pressure infinitive
choked under pressure past
choked under pressure past participle
choking under pressure present participle
chokes under pressure third person singular

Morphology

choke + under + pressure

The meaning is directly and transparently derived from combining 'choke' (to underperform/fail in crucial moments) with 'under pressure' (experiencing stress or heavy demand): together they straightforwardly mean 'fail because of stress'. This compositional pattern is common cross‑linguistically and follows normal English verb + prepositional‑phrase logic, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent meanings should be able to understand it.

Etymology

Choke under pressure comes from the image of a person who literally chokes—their throat closes—when stress is too strong, so they cannot perform well. That's why it means 'to fail because of stress or nervousness in an important moment'.