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

On Saturday night, after the audience of the Royal Alexandra Theatre roared in a standing ovation for Fraser and his director, Hikari (Beef, 37 Seconds), the star became visibly choked up talking about the themes of Rental Family. —Nick Romano, Entertainment Weekly, 7 Sep. 2025

Cameras caught Queen Camilla getting visibly choked up at the words, or perhaps at the reminder of what has actually happened behind the scenes. —Lizzie Lanuza, StyleCaster, 22 Aug. 2025

The final episode serves as a 42-minute look into the present, and even a hesitant look into the future by the Jones family, as his children choked up at the thought of a world without their father. —Nick Harris, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 19 Aug. 2025

The offensive coordinator nearly choked up when talking about their reunion. —Miami Herald, 8 Aug. 2025

Rhymes for choke up

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