choke- in comb.
[the stem of the vb.]
1. a. in attributive relation to a n. = ‘choking, that chokes’: as choke-ball, choke-muddle; choke-cymbal (see quots. 1934 and 1938); also, a cymbal that is ‘choked’ (see choke v. 10 b); choke-strap, a strap which connects the collar with the belly-band, and keeps the former in place when a horse is backing. Also choke-damp.
| 1646 Evance Noble Ord. 26 Lust and luxury, the only baine and *choak-ball to Honour. |
| 1934 E. Little Mod. Rythmic Drumming 21 It is..desirable to have ‘*choke’ cymbals atttached to the hoop of the bass drum. Two 8-inch cymbals are clamped together, ‘face to face’ and are mounted on a holder which can be fixed within easy reach of the sticks. A screw washer makes it possible for the volume of tone to be controlled. 1938 Oxf. Compan. Mus. 160/2 Choke cymbals. These are two ordinary cymbals, fixed face to face on a rod, with a device by which their pressure, one on the other, can be adjusted according to the tone-quality desired. 1964 [see choke v. 10 b]. 1967 Crescendo June 9/1 It is all there: the banjo, the choke cymbal, the sax trio with its ‘jolly’ phrasing. |
| 1882 Garden 14 Jan. 26/1 The ‘*choke-muddle’ shrubberies that one sees in all parts of the country. |
b. esp. with fruit- and plant-names, as
choke-apple, the Crab-apple;
† choke-plum, a plum having qualities similar to the Choke-pear; used
fig.;
† choke-wort = choke-weed. Also
choke-berry, -cherry, -pear.
| 1616 Surfl. & Markh. Country Farme 379 A kind of wild Apple, called a *Choake apple, because they are verie harsh in eating. |
| 1556 J. Heywood Spider & F. xxxvi. 1 The spiders tale..semth a choking *choke plum Against flies. |
| 1630 J. Taylor (Water P.) Praise of Hempseed Wks. iii. 66 a/2 The name of *Choak-wort is to it assigned, Because it stops the venom of the mind. |
2. with
n. in objective relation
= ‘what chokes (the thing in question)’: as
† choke-bail, an action, raising so great an issue as to prevent the possibility of bail being offered;
choke-dog,
dial. (see
quot. 1886);
† choke-fitch, an old name for Dodder,
Orobanche;
† choke-pard, Leopard's Bane (
Doronicum);
choke-priest, a rendering of
Ital. strozzapreti, a soup thickened with short pieces of a kind of pasta or macaroni.
| 1632 B. Jonson Magn. Lady v. iii, Arrest him on an action of *choke-bail. 1676 Wycherley Pl. Dealer v. iii, Bailiff. We arrest you in the King's name. Widow Blackacre. How, how? In a choke-bail action? |
| 1826 Scott Diary 14 June, Bought a little bit of Gruyere cheese, instead of our dame's *choke-dog concern. 1886 W. Barnes Dorset Gloss., Chock-dog, an epithet bestowed..on hard Dorset cheese. |
| 1562 Turner Herbal ii. 71 b, Orobanche that is *chokefitche or strangletare. a 1693 Urquhart Rabelais iii. li. 408 More..hurtful than the Strangle-weed, Choak⁓fitch is to the Flax. |
| 1605 Sylvester Du Bartas i. iii. (1641) 27/1 The touch of *Choak-Pard Aconite [cf. Lyte Dodoens iii. lxxviii. 426 Aconitum Pardalianches..Aconit that baneth Panthers]. |
| 1848 T. Grant Advent. Aide-de-C. xxxiv, A famous maker of polenta and *choke-priest. |