to choke off
6
6.4
- phrasal verb
:
bloquear
- Much of the decline in funding can be attributed to the Legislature choking off the flow of the sporting goods sales tax.
- choke off the flow
- choke off the supply
- choke off exports
I'll share with you an open, vulnerable, personal example of this, of where my life was stuck, where my life was kind of choked off and stagnant.
- I'll share with you an open, vulnerable, personal example of this, of where my life was stuck, where my life was kind of choked off and stagnant.
Examples
-
Fences, sensors, drones, checkpoints, and disciplined, coordinated enforcement have choked off routes through urban areas that were once easily crossed.
Blog text (12) -
Their top-down, closed structure chokes off information from outside sources and distorts it due to the imperatives of political control.
Academic text (2009) -
The bottom line is that the steady rise in energy prices is choking off any hope we ever had of an economic recovery.
Blog text (14) -
Frankly, it's quite a brilliant approach, but as you rightly point out, it chokes off choice and variety.
Blog text (25) -
The rest are disposed of by the lower courts, and now some activists on the right would choke off access even there.
Academic text (2007) -
Otherwise, though, yes, the average American has no truck with Empire or any mass statist enterprise that chokes off individualism.
Blog text (8) -
People's talents and worldviews can threaten the insecure and choke off honest discussion.
Academic text (2009) -
The Iranian defense minister said last weekend that his country has no plans to choke off maritime oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.
Blog text (26) -
Hundreds of miles of canals were dug to divert the waters of the Tigris and Euphrates away from the marshes, choking off their source of life.
Academic text (2007) -
The city implemented new regulations to choke off pollution by limiting emissions from factories.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
To make something end and not continue
∞
3.0
To stop movement, access, or progress
620
3.8
To stop something suddenly before it is finished
264
3.7
To be unable to breathe because something blocks the throat or neck
206
2.4
To stop moving or make something stop moving
176
4.8
To stop public protest by force or by people in power
119
5.1
To block a path or view
83
2.6
Stop something from working by using a switch or valve
47
3.9
Stop people from entering or leaving an area by blocking it
44
4.6
To move suddenly in front of someone to block their way
33
6.7
To limit growth or activity so it cannot continue
30
5.4
Stop or make something less likely to happen
27
4.0
Become blocked so things cannot move
24
3.9
Stop people or vehicles from entering a place
23
3.8
Close a road, path or entrance so people cannot go through
21
3.2
To block a pipe or passage so flow stops
18
4.5
To make something dirty or blocked so it does not work properly
14
3.0
To stop light, sound, or air from coming in
13
5.3
Take strong action to stop something bad or illegal
11
4.3
To slow down an activity or stop it
9
6.4
To stop something from continuing or becoming known
9
3.7
To block a drain or road so things cannot move through it
4
3.8
To stop movement through a road, pipe, or path
1
4.6
Block a hole, pipe, or crack so nothing can pass through
1
5.8
To block a pipe or drain so water cannot pass through
1
6.1
To stop someone or something from making progress
1
9.1
To squeeze an organ or blood vessel so blood cannot flow
1
5.3
To block or fill a place so things cannot move through it
To block an opening to stop liquid or gas passing through
To become blocked or cause a block by dirt and grease
To stop a meeting or discussion
Antonyms
How Stopped
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to stop or prevent by blocking source or flow' is directly built from 'choke' (to restrict or close off flow) combined with the particle 'off' (indicating cessation or disconnection). This verb+particle composition follows a standard, compositional English pattern that a B1 learner who knows the constituents can reasonably infer.
Etymology
Choke off comes from a simple picture: choke means to hold so air or liquid cannot move and off means away. Imagine squeezing a hose or covering a pipe so the flow stops, and that's why it means 'to stop or prevent something by blocking its source or flow'.