as in to turn back
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Recent Examples of choke off
Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, vowed retaliation Thursday against the United States and Israel and signaled that Tehran will continue to choke off the world’s most critical oil route.
—
Deputy Managing Editor, Los Angeles Times, 13 Mar. 2026
Cuba’s energy crisis No oil tankers have arrived in Cuba for three months, Diaz-Canel said, after the United States’ move to choke off the island’s oil supply as a way to pressure its government to undergo significant reforms.
—Syra Ortiz Blanes, Miami Herald, 13 Mar. 2026
Iran’s leaders have repeatedly threatened to intervene more forcefully to choke off oil supplies; regime change there could have a similar outcome, if the resulting internal turmoil disrupts production.
—Tim McDonnell, semafor.com, 19 Feb. 2026
Tehran has threatened to shut down the strait to commercial shipping if it is attacked in the past, a move that would choke off a fifth of global oil flows and drive up crude prices.
—Max Burman, NBC news, 17 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for choke off
Deputy Managing Editor, Los Angeles Times, 13 Mar. 2026
Cuba’s energy crisis No oil tankers have arrived in Cuba for three months, Diaz-Canel said, after the United States’ move to choke off the island’s oil supply as a way to pressure its government to undergo significant reforms.
—Syra Ortiz Blanes, Miami Herald, 13 Mar. 2026
Iran’s leaders have repeatedly threatened to intervene more forcefully to choke off oil supplies; regime change there could have a similar outcome, if the resulting internal turmoil disrupts production.
—Tim McDonnell, semafor.com, 19 Feb. 2026
Tehran has threatened to shut down the strait to commercial shipping if it is attacked in the past, a move that would choke off a fifth of global oil flows and drive up crude prices.
—Max Burman, NBC news, 17 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for choke off
Recent Examples of Synonyms for choke off
Verb
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Bernhard’s barely contained incestuous desires (The Loser is only one of a suite of works about brother-sister love and hate, alongside Correction, The Lime Works, and Concrete) are the product of individual psychologies run amok and turned back on themselves, the offshoots of artistic monomania.—
Christine Smallwood,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Mar. 2026
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Al Otro Lado, HIAS and other groups who provided assistance to the asylum seekers who were turned back at the border argued this case is about much more than the narrow legal definition of a few words.—
Alex Riggins,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
23 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The perch is a little too small for bigger birds like mourning doves, and my voracious flock of starlings is often cut off.—
Jim Fisher,
PC Magazine,
31 Mar. 2026
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Resistance is likely to be strongest among European governments, still shocked by Beijing’s threats last year to cut off supplies of rare earths — essential for clean tech — and worried about further hollowing out their own green industries.—
Andy Browne,
semafor.com,
31 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The San Bernardino County Fire Department tested new technology on Monday designed to help suppress fires by using sound waves.—
Joy Benedict,
CBS News,
31 Mar. 2026
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Acknowledge anxiety, sadness or grief with openness, instead of trying to suppress those feelings or fueling them with harsh self-criticism.—
J. David Creswell,
The Conversation,
31 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Choke off.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/choke%20off. Accessed 1 Apr. 2026.
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