choke up

phrasal verb

choked up; choking up; chokes up

: to have trouble talking because of crying or strong emotion

He chokes up whenever he tries to talk about the accident.

baseball : to move one's hands to a higher position on a baseball bat

—often + on

He choked up on the bat and took a short swing.

Examples of choke up in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Clarkson at the time served as one of NBC’s Olympic commentators alongside Peyton Manning and Mike Tirico, and was seen on the broadcast getting choked up while reacting to Dion’s performance. —

Alli Rosenbloom, CNN, 8 Oct. 2024 In his postgame session with reporters Vogt got choked up talking about what this team, his players, have achieved this season. —

Jim Ingraham, Forbes, 20 Sep. 2024 Beautiful brooches and stunning strands of pearls complimented Miu Miu’s ladies who lunch, but we’re all choked up over the gorgeous array of collar necklaces that dominated the runway collections. —

Adam Mansuroglu, WWD, 26 Sep. 2024 The gymnast noticeably choked up when she was asked about the topic. —

Jackson Thompson, Fox News, 19 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for choke up

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'choke up.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.