English
throttle
Pronunciation
  • (British) IPA: /ˈθɹɒtəl/
  • (America) IPA: /ˈθɹatəl/
Noun

throttle (plural throttles)

  1. A valve that regulates the supply of fuel-air mixture to an internal combustion engine and thus controls its speed; a similar valve that controls the air supply to an engine.
  2. The lever or pedal that controls this valve.
    Synonyms: accelerator, gas pedal, gas
  3. The windpipe or trachea.
Translations Translations Verb

throttle (throttles, present participle throttling; past and past participle throttled)

  1. (transitive) To cut back on the speed of (an engine, person, organization, network connection, etc.).
  2. (transitive) To strangle or choke someone.
    • 1649, [John] Milton, [Eikonoklastes]  […], London: Printed by Matthew Simmons,  […], OCLC 1044608640 ↗:
      Grant him this, and the Parliament hath no more freedom than if it sat in his noose, which, when he pleases to draw together with one twitch of his negative, shall throttle a whole nation, to the wish of Caligula, in one neck.
  3. (intransitive) To have the throat obstructed so as to be in danger of suffocation; to choke; to suffocate.
  4. (intransitive) To breathe hard, as when nearly suffocated.
  5. (transitive) To utter with breaks and interruption, in the manner of a person half suffocated.
    • c. 1595–1596, William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act V, scene i]:
      I have seen them shiver and look pale,
      Make periods in the midst of sentences,
      Throttle their practised accent in their fears.
Translations Translations

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