choke
v.v. to have trouble breathing because something is stuck in your throat or there is not enough air. In sports or high-pressure moments, it also means to fail suddenly because you are nervous.
v. to experience a partial or complete obstruction of the airway; in a psychological or sporting context, to fail to perform at a critical moment due to the pressure of competition.
He started to choke on a piece of apple.
The team was leading by ten points but started to choke in the final minutes of the championship.
While physical obstruction requires immediate medical intervention, the psychological tendency to choke under extreme scrutiny often stems from over-analyzing movements that should be fluid and automatic.
From Middle English choken (also cheken), from earlier acheken, from Old English āċēocian (“to choke”), probably derived from Old English ċēoce, ċēace (“jaw, cheek”), see cheek. Cognate with Icelandic kok (“throat”), koka (“to gulp”). See also achoke.
Back-formation from artichoke.
The verb is both transitive ('choke someone') and intransitive ('he choked').
He was choked by the foodHe was choking on the foodUse 'choking on' for accidental food obstruction; 'choked by' implies someone is actively strangling the person.