as in stifling
to refrain from openly showing or uttering
choked back a sarcastic reply to an insulting question
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for choking (back)
Verb
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How to analyze a poetics of irreverence and improvisation—of life experienced in a perpetual present—without stifling precisely these qualities?—
Joe Dunthorne,
The New York Review of Books,
6 June 2026 -
Indiana used a balanced offensive approach and stifling defense to bounce back and improve to 5-4.—
James Boyd,
New York Times,
5 June 2026
Verb
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None of this is holding back the wider push.—
Dara-Abasi Ita,
Forbes.com,
12 June 2026
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There was no holding back on the project’s ambition.—
Jack Pitt-Brooke,
New York Times,
2 June 2026
Verb
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But the country’s key tool for suppressing the pest — a facility that breeds sterile flies to halt reproduction of the parasite — isn’t slated to begin operating until November 2027.—
Ilena Peng,
Fortune,
13 June 2026
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The health care provider would then diagnose a player with Parkinson’s and, usually, issue a prescription for levodopa, a medicine that treats Parkinson’s by masking or suppressing symptoms.—
Michael McCann,
Sportico.com,
10 June 2026
Verb
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And do your best to avoid swallowing the water.—
Abby Norman,
Verywell Health,
8 June 2026
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Johns founded the university's voice center in 2017 in order to help people experiencing issues with their voices, swallowing or airways and improve their quality of life.—
Rachel Raposas,
PEOPLE,
6 June 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Choking (back).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/choking%20%28back%29. Accessed 15 Jun. 2026.
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