choke up

phrasal verb

choked up; choking up; chokes up

1

: to have trouble talking because of crying or strong emotion

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

2

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

As the nation bonded as one over the past two weeks biting nails, screaming at wins, wincing at crashes and choking up at all the beautiful moments of Olympic competition, another group of athletes were – and still are – out honing their multi-level championship skills. —Moira McCarthy, Boston Herald, 25 Feb. 2026

As Dane then recalls times spent at the beach in Santa Monica, Hawaii and Mexico with his wife and girls, the Euphoria actor becomes momentarily choked up. —Kevin Dolak, HollywoodReporter, 20 Feb. 2026

Another popular meme was spawned by an interview where Grande choked up, and took a long pause, after she was asked how working with Erivo has changed her. —Brendan Morrow, USA Today, 16 Feb. 2026

That's probably the reason I'm choked up most. —Matt Schooley, CBS News, 9 Feb. 2026

Rhymes for choke up

• buttercup
• backup
• blowup
• breakup
• buildup
• checkup
• cleanup
• holdup
• hookup
• lineup
• lockup
• makeup