🚔 A jail 🤏 Too tight

choky

1 9.9

A prison or jail

noun
/ˈtʃəʊki/

Archaic

: trullo

He threatened to send me to choky if I broke the law again.

Examples

After the robbery, he spent a year in choky before being released on parole.
The novel describes the harsh conditions inside a Victorian choky.
He spent a year in choky for theft.
The old chokies were known for their harsh conditions.
The teacher warned that any misbehaving students would be sent to the choky for the rest of the day.
In the old movie, the villain threatened to lock the hero in the choky as punishment.
He joked that he would rather take a detention than end up in the choky for his antics.

Synonyms

hoosegow

vschoky

Archaic

5 9.9

A jail or prison where people go when they break the law

is used as the British dated word rather than general slang

poky

vschoky

Slang

1 9.9

A small, dirty local jail

is the British dated slang word without implying small or poor condition

chokey

vschoky

Archaic

1 9.9

A prison where people are kept as punishment for a crime

is the dated British form rather than the alternative spelling

hoosgow

vschoky

Archaic

9.9

A place where people are kept after being arrested

is the British dated term rather than a neutral slang word

Antonyms

freedom

∞ 1.0

The right to act, speak, or think as you want without being stopped

liberty

429 3.3

Being free from unfair rules or control by government

Surface Forms

choky singular

chokies plural

Morphology

choky = choky (opaque) = choke + y

The noun sense is a lexicalized slang use built from the adjective 'choky', but the meaning 'prison' is not a regular, predictable extension for most learners.

Etymology

Choky is old British slang for a prison and may come from the verb choke, which means 'to make someone unable to breathe'. A helpful way to remember it is to think of a small, stuffy cell that feels like it 'chokes' you, so a jail became known as the choky.